NASA Education “Science WOW!” Message — April 19, 2017

STEM@NASA Goddard Webcast Event: Earth Day 2017
Audience: All Educators and Students
Event Date: April 19, 2017, Noon-12:30 p.m. EDT

Join NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center on Wednesday, April 19, at Noon EDT for the “STEM@NASA Goddard: Earth Day 2017” event. Every day is Earth Day at NASA, and in this 30-minute program viewers will learn how and why NASA studies Earth from space. In addition, participants will learn how they can become citizen scientists through the GLOBE Program.

The 30-minute event will be streamed live on UStream, and participants will be able to interact with the guest speaker by submitting questions through email and Twitter.

To view the programs on Ustream, visit http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-gsfc.

For more information or to express interest in participating, please contact Erin McKinley at erin.e.mckinley@nasa.gov.

Student Spaceflight Experiments Program — Mission 12 to the International Space Station
Audience: School Districts Serving Grades 5-12, Informal Education Institutions, Colleges and Universities
Inquiry Deadline: April 28, 2017
Start Date: September 5, 2017

The National Center for Earth and Space Science Education and the Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Space Education announce a science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, opportunity for school districts across the U.S. and space station partner nations. The newest flight opportunity, Mission 12 to the International Space Station, gives students across a community the ability to design and propose real experiments to fly in low Earth orbit on the space station. This opportunity is part of the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program, or SSEP.

Each participating community will receive a microgravity research mini-laboratory capable of supporting a single microgravity experiment and all launch services to fly the minilab to the space station in spring/summer 2018 and return it to Earth. An experiment design competition in each community — engaging typically 300+ students — allows student teams to design and propose real experiments vying for their community′s reserved mini-lab.

Content resources for teachers and students support foundational instruction on science in microgravity and experimental design. Additional SSEP programming uses the experiment design competition to engage the community in embracing a learning-community model for STEM education.

This competition is open to students in grades 5-12 and college. Informal education groups and organizations also are encouraged to participate. Interested communities must inquire about the program no later than April 28, 2017. The National Center for Earth and Space Science Education is available to help interested communities in the U.S. secure the needed funding.

To learn more about this opportunity, visit the “SSEP Mission 12 to International Space Station” National Announcement of Opportunity at http://ssep.ncesse.org/2017/03/new-flight-opportunity-for-school-districts-announcing-student-spaceflight-experiments-program-ssep-mission-12-to-the-international-space-station-starting-september-2017/.

SSEP is enabled through a strategic partnership with DreamUp PBC and NanoRacks LLC working with NASA under a Space Act Agreement as part of the use of the International Space Station as a national laboratory. The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (http://www.iss-casis.org/) is a national partner of SSEP. To view a list of all SSEP national partners, visit http://ssep.ncesse.org/national-partners/.

If you have any questions about this opportunity, please email SSEP National Program Director Jeff Goldstein at jeffgoldstein@ncesse.org.

**NEW** New ‘Ocean Worlds’ Student Slideshow and Infographic
Audience: All Educators and Students

Oceans help make life on Earth possible. So, if there are oceans beyond Earth, do living things exist on those worlds too? NASA scientists are trying to answer this question. Right now, we know oceans do exist on moons and dwarf planets in our solar system. And there are more places where they could exist.

Check out the new “Ocean Worlds” slideshow and downloadable poster. Flip through the slideshow to learn about the best-known candidates in our search for life in the solar system. Which of these places do you think is most likely to have living things?

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/learn/slideshow/ocean-worlds/

Science Opportunities for Educators of Grades K-12

**NEW** New ‘Teachable Moment’ Educational Resources Available From JPL Education — Celebrate Earth Day With NASA Science Data
Audience: K-12 Educators

Are you looking for ways to bring the latest NASA science and mission news into your classroom? Education specialists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California have the resources to help you do just that! The “Teachable Moments” blog brings together news, activities and education tips on the latest happenings at NASA.

Check out the latest offering from JPL Education.

Teachable Moment: Celebrate Earth Day With NASA Science Resources — Grades K-12
Earth Day, the day set aside each year to celebrate our planet and bring attention to the natural world, is April 22, 2017. More than one billion people are expected to participate in Earth Day events around the globe! Learn what NASA is doing to celebrate Earth Day and to help us learn more about our home planet. And discover ways to bring the latest findings into your classroom. Check it out at https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/news/2017/4/12/celebrate-earth-day-with-nasa-science-data.

Looking for more? Check out the “Teachable Moments” archives for more resources. http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/news/column/teachable-moments/

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.

**NEW** Teachers Connect: NASA’s Langley Research Center Centennial Badge
Audience: Pre-service, In-service, Home School, and Informal Educators of Grades 6-8
Event Date: April 25, 2017, at 4 p.m. EDT
The first half of this webinar will focus on clouds and their role in Earth’s “energy budget” and on implementation ideas using GLOBE for different classroom settings as part of the “Earth Right Now: LaRC 100th” digital badge. Participants will talk about student badge implementations, extension ideas and extra resources. The second half-hour will center on the engineering design process using the “Drag Race to Mars Engineering Design Challenge” as part of the “Journey to Mars: LaRC 100th” digital badge. This portion of the webinar will focus on forces and motion and math calculations using paper airplanes and testing different materials as part of the “Aeronautics: LaRC 100th” digital badge.

This webinar meets requirements of teacher discussions within the NASA Langley 100th Educator Professional Development Collaborative digital badges. Register online to participate. https://www.etouches.com/229367

To learn more about the Langley 100th digital badges, log in to https://nasatxstate-epdc.net/ and search for LaRC 100th.

**NEW** So You Want to Be an Astronaut and Other NASA Careers
Audience: Pre-service, In-service, Home School and Informal Educators of Grades 6-12
Event Date: April 27, 2017, at 6 p.m. EDT
Not just astronauts work at NASA. Explore the many NASA STEM careers needed to successfully accomplish the unique, exciting missions that explore and build a better understanding of our Earth and the universe beyond. NASA career education curriculum and resources will be integrated into this online learning session. Register online to participate. https://www.etouches.com/243842

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.

**NEW** Earth Day Extravaganza Webinar for Educators
Audience: K-12 Educators
Event Date: April 25, 2017, 8 p.m. EDT

Every day can and should be Earth Day! This webinar will focus on the various ways all citizens can participate in NASA science and help make our home planet a better place. Participants will learn how this is possible through the K-12 GLOBE Program and the GLOBE Observer app for citizen scientists of all ages, as well as through other NASA resources.

Participants will learn about SciStarter from its founder, Darlene Cavalier. The webinar will provide information on a new collaboration by NASA@ My Library and GLOBE Observer to include libraries across the U.S. in taking cloud observations. And the session will discuss an upcoming effort by museums around the world to do citizen science programs with the GLOBE Observer Mosquito Habitat Mapper for the U.N.-sponsored “Global Experiment.”

The webinar is open to all educators; participation in the GLOBE Program is not required.

For more information and to register to attend, visit https://www.globe.gov/web/el-nino/el-nino-campaign/webinars. For those unable to attend during the set webinar time, a recording of the event will be posted online.

Please submit questions about this webinar opportunity to help@globe.gov.

Earn STEM Digital Badges to Celebrate the Centennial of NASA’s Langley Research Center
Audience: Educators and Students in Grades 5-9, Informal Educators
Deadline: April 30, 2017

To celebrate NASA’s Langley Research Center’s Centennial, three STEM digital badges are now available for educators and students in grades 5-9. Discover the role of cloud types in the Earth’s Energy Budget; how drag is used to land the Mars2020 Rover on Mars; and the importance of composite materials for airplanes.

Educators may earn up to 15 hours of professional development. Student badges include up to six hours of content aligned to the educator badge.

The first 1,000 educators to complete all three badges by April 30, 2017, will receive a NASA insignia iron-on patch.

For more information and to begin earning badges, visit https://nasatxstate-epdc.net/. After logging in to the site, click on the Explore icon and type “NASA Langley” in the search area to find and select the NASA Langley Centennial Mission.

Please direct questions about this opportunity to Marilé Colón Robles at marile.colonrobles@nasa.gov.

Opportunities for Higher Education and Informal Institutions

NASA Fundamental Physics Workshop 2017
Audience: Higher Education Educators and Students
Registration Deadline: May 17, 2017
Workshop Dates: May 31-June 2, 2017

The NASA Fundamental Physics Workshop 2017 will be held May 31-June 2, 2017, in Santa Barbara, California.

The workshop will provide a forum for NASA fundamental physics investigators to present results and discuss research ideas for future space experimentation with interested international and U.S. colleagues. Topic areas include atomic and molecular physics; fundamental forces and symmetries; dusty plasma physics; and condensed matter physics.

All interested scientists and researchers are invited to participate. The participation of the current NASA-funded investigators is strongly encouraged and kindly requested.

The deadline to register to attend the workshop is May 17, 2017. For more information and to register to attend, visit http://icpi.nasaprs.com/fpw2017.

Please direct questions about this workshop to Renee Atkins at ratkins@nasaprs.com.

2017 Thermal and Fluids Analysis Workshop
Audience: Higher Education Educators and Students
Abstract Submission Deadline: May 19, 2017
Workshop Dates: Aug. 21-25, 2017

The annual Thermal and Fluids Analysis Workshop will be held Aug. 21-25, 2017, at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

The Thermal and Fluids Analysis Workshop encourages knowledge sharing, professional development, and networking throughout the thermal and fluids engineering community within NASA, academia and the aerospace community at large. STEM faculty and university students are encouraged to attend, submit a poster or paper on their thermal/fluids work, take free training, or do a combination thereof.

Registration to attend the workshop is free. Participants interested in presenting at the conference, via manuscript or technical poster, must submit an abstract by May 19, 2017.

For more information about the workshop and how to submit an abstract for consideration, visit https://tfaws.nasa.gov/.

Please direct questions about this opportunity to Ramona Cummings at ramona.o.cummings@nasa.gov.