NASA and Space Grant "Educational Opportunities"
for Teachers, Students, and Home School Parents, Grades K-12
(NASA Education Updates from NASA's Earth Science Enterprise)
This page last updated on March 11, 2010

• Start with a little Humor! "Kids & Science"

• Robotics Teacher-Training Flyer (Summer 2010) at the Journey Museum, Rapid City

• Summer Educational Programs for YOUTH at SDSM&T.  Click here for 2010 Youth Summer Camps "flyer".

• Robotics Materials Award Application (now closed for 2010 award applications)

• NASA Robotics

• Solar System Ambassador Program.  
       Click here for info on SD's Ambassador Fernando Nino

• Solar System Educators Program.  Interested teachers should contact Kay Ferrari at ssep@jpl.nasa.gov

• National Engineering Design Challenge (NEDC) - NEDC is all about making a difference. This cross-curricular competition asks students, in grades 9-12, to put their creativity and problem-solving skills to use and create an assistive technology device for a person with a disability.

• July 20, 2009 - 40th Anniversary of Apollo 11.  Click here for more Apollo 11 images and wechoosethemoon.org

• Youth Engineering Adventure (YEA) - YEA is a week-long, on-campus program (at SDSM&T and  SDSU) for high school students interested in math and science.

• Aerospace Career Education (ACE) Camp: Held at SDSU for high school students who want to find out first hand about aerospace, aviation, and related careers.

• Hubble Space Telescope website
      » Hubble's "New Views of the Universe"

• Top Stars - a contest open to U.S. formal (K-12, college) and informal educators to send in their best example of how they've used the NASA Hubble Space Telescope for STEM education.

• Sun-Earth Day 2010

• Kelly Lane Earth and Space Science Grant - This $5,000 grant provided by the SD Space Grant Consortium will be awarded annually to a select science or math teacher in SD to recognize and support outstanding teachers and innovative educational programs at the pre-college level.

• Happy 50th Anniversary NASA!  Take an Interactive Tour of NASA's First 50 Years in this multimedia experience that takes you on an interactive tour of NASA's first five decades of exploration. Combining current and historic video with state-of-the-art computer animation, this virtual exhibit features pavilions that host each decade of NASA's challenges and achievements. Your host is an animated robot named Automa, who guides you through your journey. Also assisting throughout the tour are important historic and cultural figures of the past 50 years of aerospace history, including astronauts, presidents, astronomers and other popular icons associated with NASA's history. (This site is best viewed over a broadband Internet connection).

• NASA SOAR "Summer Opportunity in AeRonautics for High School Scholars" - NASA Langley Research Center (July 12 - 31, 2009).  Application deadline April 20, 2009

•  Summer Science 2009 - The Davis-Bahcall Scholarship is a one-of-a-kind opportunity for South Dakota students who love science.  Recipients study at the Sanford Lab at Homestake in Lead, S.D., the Gran Sasso National Underground Laboratory in Italy, and Princeton University in New Jersey. Students are accompanied by a chaperone.  For high school seniors or college freshmen at time of application.

• Pete Conrad Spirit of Innovation Awards combine education, innovation and entrepreneurship by challenging high school students to design products using science and technology.

• Earthshots - Earthshots introduces remote sensing by showing examples of how environmental changes look from space. Partially funded by NASA SDSGC.

• NASA Interdisciplinary National Science Project Incorporating Research and Education Experience (INSPIRE)

• South Dakota Space Days 2008 - Held October 16-17, 2008 in Watertown, SD

• SDSU-Flandreau Indian School (FIS) Success Academy (where all students are "honored" students) - An early and intensive college preparatory program for Native American high school students.

• Phoenix Mars Mission
• NASA Aeronautics Competitions for 2008-2009 - Students design the next generation aircraft.

• The Great Moonbuggy Race

• NASA Digital Learning Network

• NASA Education Strategic Coordination Framework (2006)

• NASA Education Homepage

• NASA Educational Materials

• NASA Science - NASA's Science Mission Directorate has launched this new Web site that provides enhanced and engaging information about NASA's vast scope of scientific endeavors and achievements.

• NASA Engineering Design Challenge: "Lunar Plant Growth Chamber" for the 2007-2008 school year - Elementary, middle and high school students design, build, and evaluate lunar plant growth chambers, while engaging in research-and standards-based learning experiences.  Plant growth will be an important part of space exploration in the future as NASA plans for long-duration missions to the moon.

• Mars Exploration Rover Mission website

• Apply to be a NASA Explorer School

• Team America Rocketry Challenge - The world’s largest rocket contest.  The Team America Rocketry Challenge was created in 2002 to encourage middle and high school students to study math and science and pursue careers in aerospace. 

• Send your experiment to space in a "TinySat" container! - Under this offer by UP Aerospace, student experiments can be flown into space, recovered, and provided back to young experimenters for as little as $2,000.

• Amazing Space - This website promote the science and majestic beauty of the universe for use in the classroom. The materials developed for educators and learners of all ages are accurate, classroom-friendly, visually appealing, and carefully crafted to adhere to accepted educational standards.

• Presentations such as "Mars Mania" and Images of Space from the Hubble Space Telescope to K-12 and general public audiences may be requested by contacting Tom Durkin.  Educational programs will be granted based on staff availability.

• Apollo Lunar Surface Journal

• EngineeringK12 Center - This new online home seeks to identify and gather in one place the most effective engineering education resources available to the K-12 community. 

• December 17, 2003 was the Centennial of Flight - From the Wright Brothers to the International Space Station!  For more info, click here.

• Powers of 10 - View the Milky Way at 10 million light years from the Earth. Then move through space towards the Earth in successive orders of magnitude and enter then enter the microscopic world!

• NASA "Central Operation of Resources of Educators" (CORE) - Your resources for multimedia materials for the classroom.

• Annual Space Settlement Contest (NASA Ames Research Center) - This annual contest invites students from around the world in 6-12th grade (11-18 years old) to develop and submit their designs for permanent space communities. 

• NASA High School Programs

• Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS)

• Help to earn Girl Scout Badges

• Help to earn Boy Scout badges

• The Space Place

• Dropping In a Microgravity Environment (DIME)

• Marsoweb - an interactive Web site developed by NASA helps scientists select suitable landing sites for future missions to Mars.

• Planet Quest: "The Search for Another Earth" - Are we alone?  Check out this website provided by NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab.

• SkyJinks - Provides an exciting and interactive opportunity to learn about weather.

• Virtual Skies - Explore the exciting worlds of aviation technology, air traffic management, and current research in this web site designed for use in high schools and flight technology programs.  Application to test Virtual Skies.

• Sioux Empire Astronomy Club - The Sioux Empire Astronomy Club located in Sioux Falls, SD

• NASA "Educator Resource Center" (ERC) at Kirby Science Center, Washington Pavilion, Sioux Falls, SD

• NASA Education Program

• Science Fair Projects for all Students! - Hundreds of ideas for every science topic, from Astronomy to Zoology!

• Earthworks "free" teacher workshop - a free one-week workshop in Jamestown, CO that provides an opportunity for secondary teachers to investigate Earth Systems Science at the local level through the interconnections between the geosphere, atmosphere, biosphere, and hydrosphere.

• Sally Ride's "Imaginary Lines" Program - Imaginary Lines was founded by former astronaut Sally Ride - America's first woman in space - to provide support for all the girls who are, or might become, interested in science, math and technology.

• New Formulas for America’s Workforce: Girls in Science and Engineering

• South Dakota "Science on the Move" - Two mobile science trucks will be available to schools, along with instructors, to present a variety of science lessons to students. The goal of Science on the Move is to bring Science and technology to the students as an extension of their regular classroom.

• Project STARSHINE.  Click here for South Dakota Schools participating in STARSHINE.

• PC's in Space - The goal of PCs in Space is to include Earth and space science in existing vocabulary, math, science, and geography curriculums.

• Global Warming Kids Site - Animations of how Global Warming occurs and how it is linked to the Carbon and Water cycles. To view these animations, you will need to have Macromedia Flash Version 5 or higher.  EPA Global Warming website.

• Natural Hazards Data from National Geophysical Data Center

• Space Day.com

• SEDS - Students for the Exploration & Development of Space - Use Search Engine as an Encyclopedia of Astronomy

• NASA Kids - Also, click here for more NASA Kids.

• Window on the Universe - Each year, Challenger Center's Window on the Universe launches thousands of everyday people—teachers and students, moms, dads, and caregivers—on a fantastic journey through our universe.   

• Windows to the Universe - Sponsored by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), Windows to the Universe is a user-friendly learning system on the Earth and Space sciences for the general public. 

• Space Weather

• Web Weather for Kids - An internet site for kids in grades 5-8. 

• Summer S'COOL at NASA Langley Research Center

• "Missions" in Space Science - A link to NASA's Space Science Missions (past, present, in development, and under study missions).

• Basics of Space Flight - An excellent mini-course on space exploration by NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab.

• "Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence" (SETI) Institute Homepage

• He Sapa Bloketu Woecun (Black Hills Community) - Summer '08 Cultural & Science Field Experience (2008 Program Completed)

• The Remote Sensing Tutorial

• TerraFly - Virtually "fly" over the entire U.S.  Enter your zip code or street address and find your home!

• Virtual Immersion in Scientific Inquiry for Teachers (VISIT) - an Online Collaboratory for teachers of grades 9 – 12 science, mathematics, and technology subjects.

• NASA's Space Science Education Resource Directory - An Internet on-ramp to top-quality educational resources produced by NASA.

• Student "Signatures in Space" Program.
            » 2005 SD Student Signatures in Space Program
            » 2004 SD Student Signatures in Space Program
            » 2003 SD Student Signatures in Space Program
            » 2002 SD Student Signatures in Space Program
            » 2001 SD Student Signatures in Space Program
            » 2000 SD Student Signatures in Space (carried aboard Space Shuttle's 100th Mission!!)
            » Photo: 1999 Crew carries SD Student Signatures in Space

• Classroom Lessons (or for Fun Learning at Home):
       » Activity #1 - Shuttle/Mir Seed Germination Activity (Grades K-8)
       » Activity # 3 - Hydroponic Systems (Grades 9-12)
       » Activity #4 - Optimum pH of Nutrient Solutions (Grades 9-12)
       » Activity #5 - How Many Pencils? (Grades K-4)
       » Activity #6 - To Absorb or to Scatter? (Grades 5-8)
       » Activity #7 - The Refractive Index of Water (Grades 9-12)
       » Activity 8 - A Cure for “Bad” Breath? (Grades K-4)
       » Activity #9 - A Circulatory System Relay (Grades 5-8)
       » Activity #10 - Effects of a Closed Environment on Living Things (Grades 9-12)

• Other Lessons
      » Lesson 5 - How Much Do You Weigh on Other Planets?

• The "GLOBE" Program (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) - GLOBE is a worldwide network of students, teachers, and scientists working together to study and understand the global environment. Students and teachers from over 9,500 schools in more than 90 countries are working with research scientists to learn more about our planet. - October 11-17, 2009

• Earth Science Week 2009 - October 11-17, 2009

• Sky & Telescope

• Society for Amateur Scientists

• Space Place - A website for children devoted to learning about space.

• NASA Quest - is one of the LTP Internet sites that features interactive projects that allow students and teachers the opportunity to communicate with NASA scientists and researchers and experience the excitement of science as it is happening.

• Astronaut Photography of Earth

• Earth from Space - Excellent Earth Photos acquired by astronauts aboard NASA Space Shuttle. Over 315,000 images!
      »  More "Earth Photo" Websites: 1) Earth Observatory, 2) Visible Earth, and 3) Earth Science 'Picture of the Day'

• Nighttime Satellite Image of Earth - Showing that dark skies are a vanishing natural resource in developed countries.

• Chandra X-Ray Observatory Center

• Astronomical Society of the Pacific - Books, posters, classroom aides, gifts, globes, slides, videotapes, software, etc.

• The Nine Planets - A multimedia Tour of the Solar System (an overview of the history, mythology, and current scientific knowledge of each of the planets and moons in our solar system.)

• NASA's Planetary Photojournal - Wonderful downloadable photos and images!

• Great Images in NASA (GRIN) - A library of NASA images that can be browsed by subject and downloaded.

• Moon Phases - Understanding the moon phases.  Moon phases calendar.

• Space Story - "Space Story" is the official web-site of Astronaut Story Musgrave to share his experiences as an astronaut, marine, surgeon, scientist and literary critic. Story applies a unique perspective to his favorite photographs of our Earth, the Heavens and Humanity.

• The Sun

• SOHO (Solar & Heliospheric Observatory) - Exploring the Sun

• "Solar Events" Homepage - The "Sun-Earth Connection" Education Forum.

• Black Hills Astronomical Society Homepage

• The Lessons Plans Page - Home to over 900 free lesson plans - making teaching easier!

• South Dakota Science Teachers Assoc.
  

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