NASA “Science WOW!” Message – April 11, 2018

Check out the latest edition of NASA’s “Science WOW!” — your source for NASA science opportunities for educators and students delivered “Weekly On Wednesday.”


Science Always Starts With a Question …


This Week’s Question: What Is Citizen Science?

You don’t have to be a professional scientist to help NASA researchers learn about our home planet and make discoveries about space science! You can take part in citizen science — a form of open collaboration in which individuals or organizations participate voluntarily in the scientific process in various ways, including enabling the formulation of research questions; creating and refining project design; conducting scientific experiments; collecting and analyzing data; interpreting the results of data; developing technologies and applications; making discoveries; and solving problems.

Are you looking for ways to celebrate Citizen Science Day on April 14? This week’s Science WOW! newsletter is full of citizen science projects. For even more, click on the link below to see the many opportunities NASA has for citizen scientists!

https://science.nasa.gov/citizenscientists


Have You Seen This?


See what NASA Science is up to with the ScienceCasts video series. ScienceCasts are short videos about fun, interesting and unusual science topics encountered by NASA’s science missions.

https://science.nasa.gov/science-news


Opportunities for Future Scientists of All Ages



Science Opportunities for Educators of Grades K-12



Science Opportunities for Higher Education and Informal Institutions


 


Opportunities for Future Scientists of All Ages


 **NEW** Help NASA Predict Landslides — Citizen Science: Landslide Reporter
Audience: All Educators and Students

Landslides affect all countries, yet scientists don’t have a clear picture of where and when landslides occur globally. To predict landslides more accurately, NASA scientists are building the Cooperative Open Online Landslide Repository with data of past landslides — and you can help. Learn how to add to the COOLR catalog using the Landslide Reporter citizen science application.

To learn more, visit https://landslides.nasa.gov.

Questions about this opportunity should be directed to landslide_support@nccs.nasa.gov.


NASA GLOBE Clouds: Spring Cloud Observations Data Challenge
Audience: All Educators and Students
Challenge Dates: March 15-April 15, 2018

The NASA GLOBE Clouds team at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, invites educators, students, and the public to enter up to 10 cloud observations per day from March 15-April 15, 2018. Observations can be logged using the GLOBE Program’s data entry options or the GLOBE Observer app. Participants with the most observations will be congratulated by a NASA scientist with a video posted on the NASA GLOBE Clouds website.

To learn more, visit https://www.globe.gov/web/marile.colonrobles/home/blog/-/blogs/37565448.

Questions about this opportunity should be directed to marile.colonrobles@nasa.gov.


Citizen Science Project: Cosmoquest’s Image Detective
Audience: All Educators and Students

CosmoQuest’s Image Detective, a NASA-funded citizen science project, invites the public to identify Earth features in photographs taken by astronauts aboard the International Space Station. Citizen scientists are asked to help identify geographic features (natural or human-made) in astronaut photographs and then determine the location on Earth where the photo is centered.

Your efforts can enhance NASA’s database of images taken by astronauts from the space station. To learn more, visit http://cosmoquest.org/ImageDetective.

Questions about this opportunity should be directed to info@cosmoquest.org.


Help NASA Search the Realm Beyond Neptune at Backyard Worlds: Planet 9
Audience: All Educators and Students
Project Timeframe: Ongoing

Is a large planet at the fringes of our solar system awaiting discovery, a world astronomers call Planet Nine? Using data from NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer mission, NASA scientists are looking for this planet and for new brown dwarfs in the backyard of the solar system. But they need your help! Finding these dim objects requires the human eye to comb through the images to distinguish moving celestial bodies from ghosts and other artifacts. Participants in this citizen science project will share the credit for their discoveries in any scientific publications that result from the project.

For more information and to learn how to participate, visit the “Backyard Worlds: Planet 9” website at http://backyardworlds.org.

To learn more about NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer and its mission to image the entire sky in the infrared, visit https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/WISE/main/index.html.

Please direct questions about this opportunity to Marc Kuchner at marc.j.kuchner@nasa.gov.


Help NASA Find New Planetary Systems — Become a Disk Detective!
Audience: All Educators and Students
Project Timeframe: Now Through 2018

Help NASA find new disks, homes of extrasolar planets, by classifying images from NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer telescope and other observatories. In this citizen science project, you’ll view animated images of disk candidates and classify them, distinguishing good candidates from galaxies, asteroids and image artifacts. This project, suitable for elementary students through expert adults, will yield targets for the James Webb Space Telescope and publications in professional scientific literature.

This project is ongoing and expected to run through 2018. For more information and to start hunting for planets, visit http://www.diskdetective.org/.

Questions about this opportunity should be directed to Marc Kuchner at marc.j.kuchner@nasa.gov.


Be a Citizen Scientist With the ‘Aurorasaurus’ Project
Audience: All Educators and Students
Project Timeframe: Ongoing

Aurorasaurus is the first and only citizen science project that tracks auroras around the world via online reports, mobile apps and social media.

Aurorasaurus is a citizen science project that gathers real-time data about aurora sightings and sends out notifications to users when the northern or southern lights are likely visible in their area. Registered users get location-based notifications and a real-time monitor of space weather activity. The project also allows users to help verify tweets and search for real sightings. Plus, the website features answers to science and aurora questions.

To learn more, visit http://www.aurorasaurus.org/.

Please direct questions about this project to aurorasaurus.info@gmail.com.

This project receives support from the National Science Foundation and NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.

 


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: Weather and Climate
Audience:
6-8, Informal and Pre-service Educators
Event Date: April 12, 2018, at 6 p.m. EDT
Learn about weather and how it is forecast, and explore how weather and climate differ. NASA missions, STEM classroom resources and lessons will guide us through a “storm” of classroom activities that address Next Generation Science Standards MS-ESS2-5,6. Register online to participate. https://www.eiseverywhere.com/316063

**NEW** Earth Right Now: GLOBE Atmosphere, Clouds and Contrails
Audience:
K-12, Informal and Pre-service Educators
Event Date: April 17, 2018, at 6:30 p.m. EDT
Learn about clouds and contrails using the GLOBE Program. GLOBE is an international science and education program that lets students worldwide participate in data collection and the scientific process. Learn how your students can contribute to understanding of the Earth system and global environment. Register online to participate. https://www.eiseverywhere.com/319067

**NEW** Earth Right Now: STEM Activites for Relationships in Ecosystems
Audience:
K-5, Informal and Pre-service Educators
Event Date: April 18, 2018, at 5 p.m. EDT
Learn about the Elementary GLOBE “Earth System Module” containing storybooks and STEM activities. Activities help students learn what plants need from water, sunlight and soil; explain how Earth’s processes and components are interconnected; and demonstrate their knowledge of how water, air, soil and living things interact in the Earth system. Register online to participate. https://www.eiseverywhere.com/327332

**NEW** Earth Right Now: Exploring Our Earth From Space
Audience:
5-9, Informal and Pre-service Educators
Event Date: April 19, 2018, at 6 p.m. EDT
Explore Earth from above with the help of astronauts and satellites. Learn how observations from space teach us about our planet and the processes that shape it. Using NASA missions, real data, online resources and classroom lessons, we’ll investigate Earth with eyes from above. Register online to participate. https://www.eiseverywhere.com/327116

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.


Free Webinar — Shake, Bake and Shout: Materials ISS Experiment-X (MISSE-X)
Audience: 5-12 Educators
Event Date: April 18, 2018, at 6 p.m. EDT

Join NASA’s Beginning Engineering, Science and Technology educators for a free 60-minute professional development webinar. Learn how NASA is using a series of experiments mounted externally on the space station to investigate the effects of long-term exposure to the harsh environment of space. Using NASA’s BEST engineering design process, participants will test a variety of materials to determine if they would be suitable for long-term use in space.

For more information and to register to participate, visit https://www.eiseverywhere.com/329527.

Please direct questions about this webinar to afrc-nasabestedu@mail.nasa.gov.


**NEW** NASA Mars Science: MAVEN Outreach Webinar — Do Habitable Worlds Require Magnetic Fields?
Audience: Formal and Informal Educators, Parents and Teens
Event Date: April 18, 2018, 7 p.m. EDT

MAVEN Outreach Webinars are virtual gatherings of team members from the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, mission. The webinars offer professional development for formal and informal educators, troop leaders, museum docents, and others interested in MAVEN and Mars science.

Join the MAVEN team on April 18, 2018, at 7 p.m. EDT, for the “Do Habitable Worlds Require Magentic Fields?” webinar. What makes a planet hospitable for life? Join MAVEN Co-Investigator Dr. Dave Brain of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) to learn about the role that a global magnetic field may play in the evolution of a planet’s atmosphere and in planetary habitability.

For more information, visit http://lasp.colorado.edu/home/maven/education-outreach/maven-outreach-webinars/.

Questions about this webinar should be directed to epomail@lasp.colorado.edu.


 **NEW** 2018 Texas Space Grant Consortium STEM Educator Scholarships
Audience: Educators Enrolled in Programs for a Master’s Degree in a STEM Field at Member Institutions of the Texas Space Grant Consortium
Application Deadline: April 27, 2018

The Texas Space Grant Consortium’s Educator STEM Scholarship Program provides $1,500 scholarships to eligible teachers enrolled in master’s programs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields. Applicants must be U.S. citizens who hold a bachelor’s degree and are enrolled in a master’s program at a Texas Space Grant Consortium institution. Members of underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply.

For more information, visit http://www.tsgc.utexas.edu/edu_stem/.

Please direct questions about this scholarship to scholarships@tsgc.utexas.edu.


 **NEW** 2018 NASA SEES TEX2 Teacher Externship Program
Audience: Secondary Educators in Texas
Application Deadline: May 1, 2018

Join NASA, the Texas Space Grant Consortium and The University of Texas at Austin Center for Space Research for a weeklong “externship” this summer. Educators will collaborate with students selected from across the nation and NASA scientists. Participants will conduct research using Earth-observing satellite data and explore STEM careers. Housing, meals and a stipend will be provided.

For more information, visit http://www.tsgc.utexas.edu/sees-externship/.

Please direct questions about this opportunity to baguio@csr.utexas.edu.


GLOBE Student Research Campaign — Water in Our Environment
Audience: K-12 Educators
Campaign Dates: Now Through June 30, 2018

Water continuously circulates through one of Earth’s most powerful systems: the water cycle. Join GLOBE for its latest campaign that uses a set of guiding investigative questions to enable students to meaningfully explore water in their local environment and collaborate to consider the influence of water on a global scale. The project is flexible, allowing teachers to choose between many options to involve their students.

Visit the site for details about the project and upcoming informational webinars.

https://www.globe.gov/web/el-nino/el-nino-campaign/water-in-our-environment-student-research-campaign

Please direct questions about this opportunity to http://www.globe.gov/support/contact.

 


Opportunities for Higher Education and Informal Institutions


**NEW** Call for Papers: 2018 International Space Station Research and Development Conference
Audience: Higher Education Educators and Students
Abstract Submission Deadline: April 27, 2018

The seventh annual International Space Station Research and Development Conference will be held July 23-26, 2018, in San Francisco, California

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; Commercial and Nongovernment Use; Physical Sciences and Materials Development; Plant Science; Earth Science and Remote Sensing; Innovative Solutions; 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 April 27, 2018.

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.


**NEW** 2018 Columbia Crew Memorial Undergraduate Scholarships
Audience: Undergraduate Students at Member Institutions of the Texas Space Grant Consortium
Application Deadline: April 27, 2018

The Texas Space Grant Consortium and the Aviation and Space Foundation of Texas, in partnership with NASA, are offering undergraduate scholarships of $1,500 in memory of the Space Shuttle Columbia astronauts. These scholarships recognize outstanding students and encourage graduate studies in STEM-related fields. Applicants must be U.S. citizens and registered for at least a half-time course load at a Texas Space Grant Consortium institution. Members of underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply.

For more information, visit http://www.tsgc.utexas.edu/grants/scholars_announcement.html.

Please direct questions about this scholarship to scholarships@tsgc.utexas.edu.


**NEW** 2018-2019 Texas Space Grant Consortium Graduate Fellowships
Audience: Graduate Students at Member Institutions of the Texas Space Grant Consortium
Application Deadline: April 27, 2018

Texas Space Grant Consortium Fellowships encourage graduate study in the fields of space science and engineering. Interdisciplinary and integrated work experience are emphasized. Each $5,000 award supplements half-time graduate support (or a fellowship) provided by a consortium institution. Applicants must be U.S. citizens registered for full-time study in a graduate program at one or more of the Texas Space Grant Consortium institutions. Members of underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply.

For more information, visit http://www.tsgc.utexas.edu/grants/fellows_announcement.html.

Please direct questions about this fellowship to fellowships@tsgc.utexas.edu.

 


Check out the ‘Explore NASA Science’ website!
Science starts with questions, leading to discoveries. Explore the redesigned NASA Science site and send us feedback. Visit https://science.nasa.gov. To view the site in Spanish, visit http://ciencia.nasa.gov.

Don’t miss out on upcoming NASA education opportunities
.
For a full list of events, opportunities and more, visit the Educators and Students Current Opportunity pages on NASA’s website:
— Educators http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/current-opps-index.html
— Students http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/current-opps-index.html

Are you looking for NASA educational materials to support your STEM curriculum?
Search hundreds of resources by subject, grade level, type and keyword at http://www.nasa.gov/education/resources/.

Find NASA science resources for your classroom.
NASA Wavelength is a digital collection of Earth and space science resources for educators of all levels — from elementary to college, to out-of-school programs. http://nasawavelength.org/

Take Part in a Year of Education on Station
September 2017 – September 2018: Although on different crews, astronauts Joe Acaba and Ricky Arnold — both former teachers — will work aboard the International Space Station. Visit NASA’s A Year of Education on Station website for out-of-this-world resources and opportunities for K-16 students and educators.

Visit NASA Education on the web:
NASA Office of Education: http://www.nasa.gov/education
For Educators: http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/index.html
For Students: http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/index.html
NASA Kids’ Club: http://www.nasa.gov/kidsclub

Did you miss last week’s NASA Science WOW! newsletter?
Visit the Science WOW! blog for an archive of previous messages.
https://blogs.nasa.gov/educationsciencewow/