Resources
NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover Landing Resources
On February 18, 2021 (at approximately 1:30 pm MT), NASA’s Perseverance rover will touch down on Mars! Check out Fiske’s Dome to Home: Perseverance to Mars series for a more in-depth look at this mission.
Now through February 2021:
- Get Your Landing Resources - Posters, stickers, fact sheets, mission patches and more.
- Ways To Participate - Try the Photo Booth, Send Your Name on the next mission to Mars, and check out other interactive experiences.
- Watch Online - Our quick guide to the TV programs coming up you can watch online.
- Mission to Mars Student Challenge - Launching in mid-January, get Mars-related webcasts for learners of all ages, along with lessons and activities for students.
On Landing Day, Feb. 18, 2021:
- Tune in to Watch Live - The NASA TV broadcast from Mission Control starts at 12:15 pm MST/2:15 p.m. EST.
After Landing:
- Explore Mars with Perseverance - As the rover begins its mission at Jezero Crater, visit the mission website for the latest news and images every day.
Climate Change Resources
NASA climate change resources for educators: Curated list of organizations that provide reviewed listings of the best available student and educators resources related to global climate change, including NASA products.
Climate Literacy & Energy Awareness Network (CLEAN): Accurate education about climate and energy topics has never been more important, and it can be challenging to locate reliable, vetted educational materials to use in your classroom. CLEAN is here to help you find the resources that you need, without wondering about their scientific credibility or educational value.
En-ROADS simulator: This interactive simulator can be used to test climate solutions and generate climate scenarios for the future.
NPR: 8 Ways To Teach Climate Change In Almost Any Classroom: Article with some thoughts about how to broach the subject with students, no matter what subject you teach.
UCAR Climate Science Classroom Activities: Hands-on activities for a variety of grade levels.
GLOBE Observer Citizen Science: GLOBE Observer is an international network of citizen scientists and scientists working together to learn more about our shared environment and changing climate. To participate, just download the GLOBE Observer app and submit regular observations.
Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS) Citizen Science: CoCoRaHS is a grassroots volunteer network of backyard weather observers of all ages and backgrounds working together to measure and map precipitation (rain, hail and snow) in their local communities.
Changing Climate: Our Future, Our Choice: Online exhibit about climate change
CIRES/NOAA Science@Home: This webinar series is intended to connect middle and high school students that are now in the virtual/remote learning landscape with scientists.
Hands-on Activities
Mystery Science Offers a range of k-5 curriculum options that inspire kids to love science! Many of the lessons are hands-on and great for at-home learning, and all are aligned with NGSS and Common Core.
McDonald Observatory from the University of Texas offers a wide variety of activities to explore astronomy. Here are a selection of our favorites to do at home:
- Shadow Play (grades K - 5): Everyone and everything has a shadow. Shadows illustrate how three dimensional objects can be viewed in two dimensions. Younger students can learn about the Sun’s relative motion in the sky as they experiment with shadows
- Observing The Moon (grades K - 5): Does the Moon always look the same? Does its surface look different at different times?
- Seeing the Invisible: Dust in the Universe (grades K - 2; 3 - 5; 6 - 8; 9 - 12): Dust is all around us: at home, on Earth, and in space. Explore the properties of dust and the astronomical research of dust in space with these three inquiry based activities from McDonald Observatory.
- Scale Models (grades 6 - 8): Use playdough to make two balls that represent different objects in the solar system. Can you guess which ones they represent? (Make your own playdough if you don’t already have some!)
- Color of Stars (grades 9 - 12): Observe colors in the flame of a burning candle to explore connections between matter, light, color, and temperature
- Stars and Galaxies (grades 9 - 12): Apply concepts of scale to grasp the distances between stars and galaxies. You will use this understanding to elaborate on the question, Do galaxies collide?
The Astronomical Society of the Pacific offers a list of K-12 classroom activities.
The Exploratorium hosts robust professional development programs, activities for classrooms, and other tools for teaching and learning.
Visit NASA Space Place for classroom activities for elementary kids, available in English and Spanish.
General Resources
Astronomy @ Home (grades K - 12): Weekly live storytime, lectures, and activities kids ages 3-15 from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.
NASA STEM @ Home for Students (grades K - 4, 5 - 8): NASA has compiled a variety of activities, puzzles, games, stories, videos, and more for students to do at home.
STAR Net: The Space Science Institute’s Science-Technology Activities and Resource Library Network provides a vibrant online community, activities, webinars, and other resources for STEM learning.
Astronaut Anne McClain’s Tips for Living in Close Quarters: NASA astronaut Anne McClain spent 204 days living on the International Space Station and shares her tips for living in close quarters with only a few other people. She shares what human behaviors create a healthy culture for living and working remotely in small groups. Read her advice here. Learn more about how NASA helps prepare astronauts for the social isolation they will experience.
Earth and Space Science digital curriculum for 8th grade.
Digital Simulations and Apps
Exoplanet Lab (grades 7 - 9) from NOVA. A Galactic Resettlement team has received distress calls from aliens in desperate need of new homes. To help, you’ll have to master the same techniques scientists use to find and characterize exoplanets – worlds orbiting faraway stars.
Download the Science on a Sphere free mobile app to explore different Earth and space datasets from a tablet or share during a teaching videoconference.
NASA’s Eyes App (grades 1 - 12) allows you to experience Earth and our solar system, the universe and the spacecraft exploring them, with immersive apps for Mac, PC and mobile devices.
Stellarium (grades 4 - 12) is a free open source planetarium for your computer. It shows a realistic sky in 3D, just like what you see with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope. Use it to observe patterns of motion of the sun, moon, and stars, magnify the planets to learn more about them and their moons, and more.
PhET Interactive Simulations (grades 7 - 12) offer a large number of STEM simulations that help students learn challenging concepts effectively. Each simulation also is accompanied by curriculum pieces designed by other teachers for your use!
Videos
Science Never Stops (grades K - 12): STEAM videos exploring museum artifacts, hands-on science, live astronomy demonstrations and so much more!
NASA eClips (grades 3 - 12): Videos explaining science, engineering, and the natural world in ways that make you think! Activity links also provided.
SciShow Space (grades 9 - 12): The universe is awe-inspiring! From ground breaking discoveries in the news to the big questions about what makes life possible, SciShow Space brings you answers to your burning questions... and poses some even weirder questions along the way.
MinutePhysics (grades 9 - 12): Short videos on astronomy and physics with easy-to-understand illustrations. Learn about fundamental concepts such as gravity and light all the way up to higher level topics like relativity and quantum mechanics.
PBS Space Time (grades 11 - 12): Space Time explores the outer reaches of space, the craziness of astrophysics, the possibilities of sci-fi, and anything else you can think of beyond Planet Earth with astrophysicist host Matthew O’Dowd.