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Education Links and Resources for K-12 Teachers
 Data/Images |
 Education Forums and Resources |
 Space Science News |
 Workshops and Competitions |
DATA/IMAGES (available to the General Public)
General:
Astronomy Picture of the Day (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/) - It offers each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
THE MESSIER CATALOG (http://www.seds.org/messier/) - The purpose of these web pages is to provide a complete guide to the 110 objects recognized as the standard Messier catalog. For each object, an image is presented together with a short description some additional astronomical data. (descriptions are available also in German, Italian, and French: a good interdisciplinary tool!)
National Space Science Data Center (http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nssdc/gen_public.html) - It is intended to guide members of the general public to NASA/NSSDC data and services most likely to be of interest to the non-researcher/scientist segment of the internet community.
The Planets: A Pictures Gallery (http://pds.jpl.nasa.gov/planets/welcome.htm) - A collection of many of the best images from NASA's planetary exploration program.
The Planetary Photojournal (http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/) - This service is designed to provide you with easy access to the publicly released images from various Solar System exploration programs. The system database is currently populated with approximately 2540 images; more are being added every day.
Specific Projects:
Chandra X-ray Observatory (http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/chronological.html) - featuring a collection of images made by the Chandra X-ray Observatory with relevant information that may include comparisons with optical, infrared, or radio images.
Hubble Space Telescope (http://hubblesite.org/gallery/) - with public pictures and the latest Hubble Space Telescope observations (http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/).
SOHO: Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/) - You can find the very latest SOHO images (http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime-images.html) and the best SOHO images (http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/gallery/bestofsoho/) here.
COBE: Cosmic Background Explorer (http://aether.lbl.gov/www/projects/cobe/cobe_pics.html) - check out pictures of the now-defunct satellite.
HETE-2 (http://space.mit.edu/HETE/mission_status.html#heteloc) - The map shows the locations of the HETE-2 primary ground stations, burst alert stations, the orbit track of HETE-2, and the location of the satellite at the time indicated in the upper-right-hand corner. By clicking on the image, you can open a window which will update the location of the HETE-2 satellite every minute or so. (Check out the HETE-2 main page [http://space.mit.edu/HETE/])
ACE: Advanced Composition Explorer- Picture Gallery
- The ACE spacecraft samples low-energy particles of solar origin and high-energy galactic particles. Study of these energetic particles will contribute to our understanding of the formation and evolution of the solar system as well as the astrophysical processes involved.
GALILEO: Images from Galileo - Galileo is the first mission to make direct measurements from an instrumented probe within Jupiter's atmosphere, and the first to conduct long-term observations of the planet and its magnetosphere and satellites from orbit around Jupiter. It is already the first to encounter an asteroid, and to photograph an asteroid's moon.
POLAR - With data from the Polar satellite scientists study the solar wind plasma when it enters into the Earth's magnetosphere. They learn about the importance and characteristics of various processes that produce the aurora. You can find the most current images of Earth's auroral regions from Polar at the following: ultraviolet, visible, x-ray.
IPAC: Infrared Processing and Analysis Center - Infrared Images Gallery - This gallery provides images and information about past and current projects in infrared astronomy.
EDUCATION FORUMS AND RESOURCES
NASA Forums:
ORIGINS Education Forum - This program is intended to offer to the public the vast educational and informational resources of NASA about the beginning of the Universe. NASA's Origins Program will use space and ground-based observatories to research and analyze the origins of the universe.
SOLAR SYSTEM Education Forum - This program is intended to be a gateway for the public to the vast educational and informational resources of NASA that pertain to Solar System exploration. Within these pages you can find links to in-depth information about the other bodies in our Solar System (planets, comets, asteroids, and moons).
SUN-EARTH CONNECTION Education Forum - This program focuses on the solar atmosphere and flares, global magnetospheric structure and dynamics, and upper atmospheric structure and energetics, and the coupling among them. Sun-Earth Connections examines the frontiers at both the very inner and outer fringes of our solar system and will explore in-situ deep in the solar atmosphere, closer to the Sun than ever before.
STRUCTURE AND EVOLUTION OF THE UNIVERSE Education Forum - The fundamental quests of the SEU theme are: to explain structure in the universe and forecast our cosmic destiny; to explain the cycles of matter and energy in the evolving universe; and to examine the ultimate limits of gravity and energy in the universe.
Resources:
Thursday's Classroom - For teachers and parents: the aim of Thursday's Classroom is to provide a lasting connection between NASA's latest research and the classroom environment. The program offers a new story every week with explanations tailored to different grade levels.
NASA Spacelink - This is the official home to electronic versions of NASA's Educational Products. NASA educator guides, educational briefs, lithographs, and other materials are cross-referenced throughout Spacelink with related topics and events.
NASA Space Science Education Resource Directory - This Directory is a convenient way to find NASA space science products for use in classrooms, science museums, planetariums, and other settings.
Challenger Learning Center(s) and McAuliffe/Challenger Center at Framingham State College - The Challenger Center is committed to providing teachers with cutting-edge techniques to get students enthused about science and technology, to offer teacher workshops, and Electronic Field Trips - with accompanying teacher's guides - that bring hands-on space exploration excitement into the classroom.
SPACE SCIENCE NEWS
Science @ NASA: Space Science- annotated listing from NASA Office of Space Science
- features daily news about NASA research, live sky events, space weather, and opportunities for our readers to participate in real NASA science
WORKSHOPS AND COMPETITIONS
NASA Student Involvement Program (NSIP) - NSIP is a national program of five competitions that links students in grades 3-12 directly with NASA's diverse and exciting mission of exploration, research, and discovery. NSIP provides educators with instructional material and classroom-ready resources that support an inquiry-based approach to science, math, technology and geography education. In preparing their investigations for submission to NSIP, students sharpen their inquiry, problem solving, and creative writing skills.
