Educational Resources
Need ideas for an online classroom e-learning lesson? Looking for something to do to keep your kiddos learning while at home? Look no further! Check out these websites and resources that can assist you in any of your daily STEAM activity planning!
Creative STEM Resources & Links!
*Challenger Learning Center Headquarters has some great STEM at Home Resources available online! Check out their full list and try some yourself today!
*Columbia has a website with a curation of resources for educators and families to use to teach coding as a skill that can help children cope with distress. Check out all they have to offer below.
*Special thank you to our friend, Miss Amelia, and her father for finding a special resource - A Student's Guide to Solar and Lunar Eclipses! "This website includes a great breakdown on observational astronomy and solar vs. lunar eclipses," say educator Ms. Biggs, "including Penumbral, Partial, Total, Annular" and much more!
*Special thank you to our friend, Miss Payton, and her mother, Michelle, for passing along this awesome space resource - Sleeping Under Stars & Planets! This page features an expansive list of resources that "span the solar system and touch on a variety of topics," but Miss Payton especially recommends the 'Virtual Experiences and Planetariums From Home' section!
*Special thank you to our friend, Kiel, and her class with Ms. Smith for passing along this excellent resource - The Role of Data Science in Astronomy and Interstellar Exploration! Learn how data science plays a part in exploring the galaxy and space travel at the link below.
*Special thank you to Ms. Smith for sharing wonderful STEM resources with us. Learn more about free STEM resources at local libraries, and why STEM and coding is important at an early age below.
- https://bestcodingbootcamps.com/advice/from-the-start-introducing-coding-to-young-minds/
- https://librarysciencedegreesonline.org/free-stem-resources-provided-by-public-libraries/
*Explore NASA STEM activities from the comfort of your own home! For a full list (including videos, activities, lessons, hand-outs and much much more), visit the NASA STEM Engagement page below.
*Bring the World to your classroom or home with PBS! All their distance learning programs and videos can be found at there website below.
*Online science videos and lessons for kindergarten through 5th grade! Get instant access to hours of fun, standards-based videos, reading material, quiz games, simple DIY activities and much more on this website!
*Thank you to our friend Logan, who is a boy scout with his eyes to the sky! He found this amazing astronomy resource for all to check out. Find about 50 different activities listed here!
*Do It Yourself! Build your own understanding of how our universe works by creating your own exhibit or multimedia planetarium show. Whether you are an educator/caregiver, youth learner, or planetarian, the DIY Universe has a wide range of resources to help guide your exploration. Beginners and experts are welcome!
*The Coca Cola Space Science Center in Georgia created a comprehensive list of stories, activities, podcast and more for parents and teachers to use at home. Be sure to check out their Virtual Astronomy Nights too!
*A very practical website for working with children either for e-learning or for at home activities is Mystery Science. It has many STEAM and space topics on it complete with videos, experiments, and lesson ideas.
*New Hampshire's Christa McAuliffe Center created an extensive list of online STEM resources for families and teachers to access right at home! Give some of their activities a try.
*A fun quiz development program for classes with iPad or computer access for all students.
*An excellent resource if you're new to astronomy or want to begin stargazing at home!
*University of North Dakota Online STEM Resources and Activities for Teens is a great log of national and international STEM resources for kids of all ages.
*A great online resource for merging web resources into a single, link-able location. Students access your lesson, self guide through resources and work toward understanding at their personal pace. Assessment and real-time data tracking.
*Have a daughter interested in AI, STEM, and all things coding? Check out this free resource filled with STEM resources for girls and women who want to work in data science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence.
*Looking for a fun way to learn about some of the most important heroes of space travel and flight? Check out these good card games for relaxation and practice for studying general knowledge about space exploration!
*Want a comprehensive history of space exploration and how Artificial Intelligence is related? Check out this descriptive history of the Evolution of Space Exploration!
*Have a high school senior interested in going to college and pursuing a STEM career? Study.com is offering several scholarships, including $1,000 scholarships for students interested in STEM majors. Scholarship application deadline is November 1st, so check out the links below soon!
*Earth Science YouTube Video Series
- NASA's Earth Minute - Artistic, kid-friendly way to explore the science and state of our home planet Earth
- Nature is Speaking Series - Videos focused on nature conservation all narrated by actors, writers, and artists as if they are Mother Nature
Check out the University of Maryland's brand new list of Data Analytics Tools for STEM Educators and Students!
The benefits of providing K-12 students with analytics tools are vast, but not all science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) teachers have the necessary resources or know the proper methods of ensuring their students receive a good education in analytics. This guide will provide resources on data and analytics for both STEM teachers and their students, helping to ensure that pupils can use these tools to achieve success in their academic and professional careers.
Visit the University of Maryland's website for all the info you need!
Updated Summer 2019!
EXPEDITION MARS
Our newly updated simulated mission Expedition Mars is on its way and we have sought out some really great Mars resources for you.
- SpacePlace - https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/search/mars/
- NASA, Mars Exploration - https://mars.nasa.gov/
- NASA, Mars Survival Kit - https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/edu_marssurvkit_pdf_2015_0.pdf
CHALLENGER’S LOST LESSONS
In 2007, the space shuttle mission STS-118 launched with Christa McAuliffe’s back-up Teacher in Space candidate, Barbara Morgan. Over 20 years has passed since the loss of the Challenger’s crew on January 28, 1986. That mission, had it been completed, would have brought Christa McAuliffe’s six science lessons to children around the world through two live and four filmed lessons to be conducted in space. The lessons, prepared for the nation and the world’s children, were never performed.
A NASA educational specialist, Bob Mayfield, wrote a narrative description of the six planned activities in the 1980s, focusing on the science and engineering performed in the conception and planning of the lessons, and describing related earth-based exercises. Mock-up planning practices of the activities and zero gravity demonstrations on video were collected with Mr. Mayfield’s narratives and are now made available to help teachers understand and teach Christa’s lessons. All six scripted experiments include a materials list, set up and step-by-step instructions for teachers to use in the classroom with students.
Using these activities, teachers can replicate that which Christa was not able to share from orbit. Christa’s wonderful teaching gift and spirit are captured on the videos, and her remarks and actions in training accomplish most of her lessons plans. Her often quoted remark “I touch the future, I teach” is validated through the distribution of the materials by Challenger Center, the organization formed to carry on the educational mission of the crew.
Students experiencing the six lost lessons will be the future touched by Christa’s teaching gift.
UPDATE - 1/28/18
Today, Challenger Center announced that several of the lessons Christa McAuliffe planned to perform aboard the Challenger shuttle during the Teacher in Space mission will be completed aboard the International Space Station (ISS) this year. Challenger Center, in collaboration with NASA and STEM on Station, will work with astronauts Joe Acaba, who were aboard the ISS, and Ricky Arnold, who arrived in March, to film the lessons.
Acaba and Arnold are both former educators and filmed the activities over several months.
The lesson topics will include effervescence, chromatography, liquids in zero-g, and Newton’s law. Several of the lessons will be completed as originally planned by Christa and a few will be re-imagined based on materials available aboard the ISS. The videos and accompanying lessons are available online at https://www.challenger.org/challenger_lessons/christas-lost-lessons/.
Check out Let's Launch!, Challenger Center's newest Flipped Classroom Planetary Science Video Series!
For Grades 5-8
Let’s Launch! is Challenger Center’s first Flipped Classroom series. Join Maya and her friend B.U.D as they learn about planetary science – Mars, the Sun, Near-Earth Objects, the Moon, and the Solar System. Each course includes an 8-10-minute animated video accompanied by three lesson plans for use in the classroom.
Space Tourism Poster Galleries
https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/galleries/space-tourism-posters
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/visions-of-the-future/
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasas-latest-exoplanet-posters-are-a-halloween-treat
Mars Exploration Poster Gallery
https://mars.nasa.gov/multimedia/resources/mars-posters-explorers-wanted
NASA/JPL Educator Newsletter
http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/educator-newsletter
Weblink for Background Information
- NASA Homepage
- Astronomy Magazine
- NASA Artemis Program - Back to the Moon
- The Jet Propulsion Laboratory – Home of Curiosity, MAVEN and more!
- NASA’s LADEE – Latest Mission to Explore the Moon
- Moon to Mars - Upcoming Space Missions
- NASA TV - Live NASA footage
Simple Machines Web Resources
| Simple Machines Websites | |
|---|---|
| Lemelson Center’s Invention at Play: Invention Playhouse | www.inventionatplay.org |
| Edheads interactive game of identifying simple machines | www.edheads.org/activities/simple-machines/frame_loader.htm |
| Educational Videos, Lessons & Games for k-12 School Kids | www.neok12.com/quiz.SIMACH01 |
| Museum of Science – Elements of Machines | http://www.legacy.mos.org/sin/Leonardo/InventorsToolbox.html |
| Making Paper Airplanes – Wedges | http://www.funpaperairplanes.com |
| Cartoon Introduction of Simple Machines | www.wn.com/category:simple_machines |
| Simple Machine Quizzes | www.staff.harrisburg.k12.va.us |
Bring Buzz Aldrin's Share Space Giant Mars Map to Your School!
ShareSpace's Giant Mars Map is an exciting standards based, interactive educational tool that promotes active learning. Suited perfectly for upper-elementary-aged students, the Map can be be used on any large surface.
Join educators across the globe who are inspiring students to set their sights to Mars with a Giant Mars Map™, targeted for ages 8–12, designed with curriculum materials developed at Purdue University, based on National Science Standards. Intended to ignite children’s interests in science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM). The Mars Map and accompanying curriculum, exclusive to ShareSpace, can be integrated within existing curricula, activities, or programs to help enhance your mission training.
The Giant Mars Map™, a 25' x 25' vinyl floor map depicting a colorful topography of Mars as well as the landing sites of Mars rover missions, allows educators and mentors to motivate children to develop an understanding for real world STEAM-based concepts using the Red Planet as the basis. The paired curriculum, curated by ShareSpace, encompasses language arts, geography, math, science, space exploration, technology, and creative, innovative thinking.
This map and accompanying curriculum is available for check out for one week from the learning center. Educators can pick up the kit at the learning center by appointment.
Call (219)989-3250 to inquire or to schedule your Giant Mars Map experience today!
