NASA Education “Science WOW!” Message — March 22, 2017

Celebrate Women’s History Month With a Series of Webcast Events From NASA’s Digital Learning Network
Audience: All Educators and Students
Next Event Date: March 23, 2017, 1 p.m. EST

NASA’s Digital Learning Network will be celebrating Women’s History Month all throughout the month of March by featuring some of the amazing women that work at NASA. Each 45-minute program will feature a different female lead at the agency and how they started their career with NASA.

March 23, 2017, at 2 p.m. EDT — Erica Alston — Atmospheric Scientist from NASA’s Langley Research Center
March 28, 2017, at 2 p.m. EDT — Kaitlin Liles — Thermal Engineer from NASA’s Langley Research Center

The events will be livestreamed for all schools to watch. For more information, visit https://www.nasa.gov/dln/virtual-visit.

To learn about other Digital Learning Network events, visit http://www.nasa.gov/dln.

**NEW** New NASA eClips™ Videos Available
Audience: All Educators and Students

Two new NASA eClips™ videos have been released! NASA eClips™ are short, relevant educational video segments. These videos inspire and engage students, helping them see real-world connections.

— Launchpad: Engineering Design to Support Scientific Discovery (Grades 9-12)
Engineering design and technology development support scientific discovery. Learn about the roles engineers and scientists play when working together on NASA missions like the James Webb Space Telescope. See how science and engineering take turns pushing each other to move exploration forward.
https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov/playlists/launchpad?v=launchpad-engineering-design-to-support-scientific-discovery

— Real World: Citizen Science (Grades 6-8)
What are citizen scientists? Why is their work so important to NASA? Join Dr. Michelle Thaller as she explains how the public, using scientific protocols, careful observations and accurate measurements, can help NASA make exciting new discoveries. Find out how you can be a citizen scientist today.
https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov/playlists/realworld?v=real-world-citizen-science

To learn more about NASA eClips, visit https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov/.

Follow NASA eClips on Facebook and Twitter!

Science Opportunities for Educators of Grades K-12

Free Education Webinars From NASA Educator Professional Development
Audience: In-service, Pre-service, Home School and Informal Educators

The NASA STEM Educator Professional Development Collaborative at Texas State University is presenting a series of free webinars open to all educators. Join NASA education specialists to learn about activities, lesson plans, educator guides and resources that bring NASA into your classroom. Registration is required to participate. To register, simply click on the link provided beneath the webinar description.

Earth Right Now: From Earth to the Moon
Audience: Pre-service, In-service, Home School and Informal Educators of Grades 4-12
Event Date: March 23, 2017, at 6 p.m. EDT
Earth is influenced by our moon. Humankind has always observed and asked questions about the moon. NASA has studied our moon for almost 60 years and has sent humans there. Explore that technological accomplishment and the Earth/moon relationship by integrating NASA missions, online resources and STEM classroom lessons. Experience some real “classroom lunacy.” Register online to participate. https://www.etouches.com/229609

Earth Right Now: NASA Satellite Missions GPM and SMAP
Audience: Pre-service, In-service, Home School, and Informal Educators of Grades K-12
Event Date: March 27, 2017, at 4 p.m. EDT
Join our special guest speakers at NASA to learn about the Global Precipitation Mission, or GPM, and Soil Moisture Active Passive, or SMAP, mission. Participants will explore science content, teachable activities, and resource suggestions for use within educational programs. Register online to participate. https://www.etouches.com/209359

Earth Right Now: Elementary GLOBE — Using Picture Books to Initiate STEAM PBL
Audience: Pre-service, In-service, Home School and Informal Educators of Grades K-5
Event Date: March 27, 2017, at 5 p.m. EDT
Explore science-based storybooks that introduce students to key concepts in water, soil, clouds, seasons, aerosols, climate and Earth system studies. The Elementary GLOBE program explores classroom learning activities complementing the science content covered in each storybook. The activities are designed to further engage students in GLOBE’s seven investigation areas. Register online to participate. https://www.etouches.com/218043

For a full schedule of upcoming NASA Educator Professional Development webinars, visit http://www.txstate-epdc.net/events/.

Questions about this series of webinars should be directed to Steve Culivan at stephen.p.culivan@nasa.gov.

Celebrate Solar Week — Spring 2017
Audience: Educators and Students in Grades 5-9, Informal Educators
Event Dates: March 27-31, 2017

Solar Week provides a weeklong series of web-based educational classroom activities and games with a focus on the sun-Earth connection. This spring’s Solar Week activities will take place March 27-31, 2017, and will highlight safe solar viewing and the total solar eclipse happening on Aug. 21, 2017.

Solar Week is ideal for young teens or groups wanting to know more about the solar system, the stars or astronomy in general. Students can learn about solar careers, sunspots, solar energy and solar storms through a series of activities, games and lessons. Many activities are suitable for fun in the computer lab as well. Participants can interact on the online bulletin board with leading scientists at the forefront of sun-Earth research.

To learn more and to register to participate, visit http://www.solarweek.org.

Questions about Solar Week may be emailed to solarweek@solarweek.org.

Exploration of the Moon and Asteroids by Secondary Students (ExMASS) High School Research Program
Audience: Educators of Grades 9-12
Application Deadline: March 31, 2017
Program Dates: September 2017 – April 2018

NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, and the Center for Lunar Science and Exploration at the Lunar and Planetary Institute are looking for 10 teams of motivated high school students and their teachers to participate in a national standards-based lunar/asteroid research program for the 2017-2018 academic year.

Supervised by their teacher and aided by a scientist advisor, participants undertake student-led open-inquiry research projects that engage them in the process of science and support the goals of the NASA Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute. At the end of the year, four teams compete for a chance to present their research at the Exploration Science Forum held at NASA’s Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, California, in July 2018.

Participation in the ExMASS program is free. Interested teachers must submit an application. Applications are due March 31, 2017.

For more information and to apply for the ExMASS program, visit http://www.lpi.usra.edu/exploration/education/hsResearch/.

Please direct questions about the ExMASS program to Andy Shaner at shaner@lpi.usra.edu.

**NEW** Mars Education Symposium and Field Trip — NASA’s Search for Habitable Environments: Instilling Curiosity Into Student Learning Through Observation and Critical Thinking
Audience: Educators of Grades 5 through College; Informal Educators
Application Deadline: June 1, 2017 (Please Note: This trip may fill before the deadline.)
Symposium Dates: June 19-23, 2017

How do scientists search for habitable environments beyond Earth? What makes an environment habitable? Are the criteria for life the same or different beyond Earth? The science of astrobiology is at the forefront addressing these types of challenging questions, including “Where can life exist?”

Currently, NASA’s Curiosity rover is exploring Gale Crater on Mars to investigate a site with an interesting history that could include habitability! Join Mars rover scientists as they lead a five-day interdisciplinary, immersive field trip for educators to explore areas on Earth similar to environments on Mars. Participants will learn how to teach students about how essential biology, geology and chemistry are to the fascinating search for life elsewhere.

Hosted by NASA and Arizona State University, the symposium will take place June 19-23, 2017. The experience will start and finish at the Arizona State University campus in Tempe, Arizona. Participants will be responsible for lodging, meals, and transportation to and from Arizona State University. Transportation between campus and the field trip sites will be provided. Some hiking will be required.

Participants will be trained using lessons designed and aligned to Next-Generation Science Standards and will receive a certificate after completing 45 professional development hours.

Space is limited to 30 participants. Applications are due June 1, 2017. (Please Note: This trip may fill before the deadline.)

For more information, visit https://marsed.mars.asu.edu/FT2017.

Please direct questions about the symposium to Sheri Klug Boonstra at sklug@asu.edu or call 480-215-0410.

**NEW** Infiniscope Launches First Digital Learning Experience — Where are the small worlds?
Audience: Pre-service, In-service, Home School, and Informal Educators of Grades 5-12

Join the growing group of formal and informal educators discovering Infiniscope’s first digital-by-design learning experience titled “Where are the small worlds?” Developed for NASA by Arizona State University, this learning experience is a standards-aligned, innovative, game-like exploration of the solar system using real NASA data and the relative motion of objects in the solar system.

In this experience, learners explore the view of our solar system from the perspective of the sun and collect data on small worlds. Learners observe the motion of different worlds to determine their location in the solar system, then launch probes to search these small worlds to find the hidden caches and collect astrocoins.

Go to https://infiniscope.education/lesson/where-are-the-small-worlds/ to explore this experience and the educator resources associated with it. See how you can use this interactive, Web-based learning experience to engage learners in the next generation of learning. Where are the small worlds? Can you find them all?

For more information, visit https://infiniscope.education/.

Questions should be directed to Jessica Swann at jlswann@asu.edu or Joe Tamer at Ajoseph.Tamer@asu.edu.

Opportunities for Higher Education and Informal Institutions

Call for Papers: 2017 International Space Station Research and Development Conference
Audience: Higher Education Educators and Students
Abstract Submission Deadline: March 24, 2017

The sixth annual International Space Station Research and Development Conference will be held July 17-20, 2017, in Washington, D.C.

NASA, the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, and the American Astronomical Society are seeking abstracts under the categories of Biology and Medicine; Human Health in Space; Commercialization and Nongovernment Utilization; Physical Sciences and Materials Development; Plant Science; Earth Science and Remote Sensing; Technology Development and Demonstration; Finances, and STEM Education (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). Topics should relate to science, exploration and technology activities (past, present, planned or under development) on the International Space Station.

Both the conference and abstract submittal are open to entrepreneurial, commercial, academic and government agency attendees, both from and outside the United States. Eligible attendees include professionals, young professionals, students and interested parties. The working language for the conference is English. The conference will include plenaries for topics of general interest and technical sessions for focused discussions.

Because of the large number of expected submissions, presenters are encouraged to submit abstracts early. The deadline is March 24, 2017.

For more information about the conference and how to submit an abstract for consideration, visit http://www.issconference.org/.

Please direct questions about this opportunity to ISSTechChair@atdl-inc.com.