This site answers questions that include: Why do we want to travel to Mars? How would your body change in space? Where would a space explorer find water and oxygen? How can we travel faster in space? Student actors (on video) and hands-on activities are featured with each answer. The site is for Grades 3-5 and available in Spanish.

Introduces children to the International Space Station (ISS), the most complex international scientific endeavor in history. Activities focus on the purpose and construction of the ISS, the history of rockets, and the role of rockets in space station assembly. Activities emphasize hands-on involvement, data collection, observation, exploration, prediction, interpretation, problem solving, and language skills.

This educational brief explains the idea that nuclear fusion is thought to be the mechanism by which virtually all of the elements around us are created. Topics include the proton-proton cycle, the carbon-nitrogen-oxygen cycle, and endothermic reactions in supernova explosions. There is also a discussion of the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE), a spacecraft intended to study the origin and evolution of the elements produced by our Sun.

The Active Galaxies pop-up book is a very large rectangular pop-up book with foldouts that was developed for use in classrooms for grades 5 and up and for special needs audiences. Active galaxies, a major scientific target for the GLAST mission, contain super-massive black holes at their cores, and sometimes emit jets of particles and light. When opened, a model of an active galaxy with jets pops up out of the center. One foldout contains explanatory information for the parts of the galaxy depicted in the central pop-up as well as a glossary, while the other contains a well-tested classroom activity: Tasty Active Galaxy. The back of the book features a cartoon story -How the Galaxy Got Its Jets.

This pop-up book was designed for K-4 students to introduce them to remote sensing. By following Echo's journey through Arizona they become more familiar with map use and remote sensing images. After completing this book, children ages 5-6 should be able to distinguish between what a satellite sees and what Echo sees, be able to identify patterns and color in the satellite image and compare these to what Echo sees, and begin to extend the concept that texture is not only how something feels but is also how something looks. Older children (ages 7-9) should begin to describe what the satellite is seeing by just looking at the satellite view and they should also be able to describe the location of patterns and colors (i.e., square patterns of irrigated crops are near rivers and green forests are on top of mountains) and make more elaborate observations about texture in the satellite images. A set of activities reinforce the four basic themes or concepts fundamental to interpreting satellite imagery: perspective, shape and pattern, color, and texture.

This interactive adventure engages children in a story-based scenario that emphasizes concepts of remote sensing and how NASA scientists use satellite imagery to better understand the Earth's environmental changes. It introduces students to Earth science concepts, beginning with classifying objects in satellite images by shape, color and texture, building a foundation for interpreting and understanding remote sensing. The story is set in New York City, chosen for its size, diversity and the visibility of prominent features in satellite imagery. Lesson plans to accompany the adventure are in development. Recommended for: children ages 5-10.

Welcome to the exciting world of aeronautics. The term aeronautics originated in France, and was derived from the Greek words for “air” and “to sail.” It is the study of flight and the operation of aircraft. This educator guide explains basic aeronautical concepts, provides a background in the history of aviation, and sets them within the context of the flight environment (atmosphere, airports, and navigation).

The activities in this guide are designed to be uncomplicated and fun. They have been developed by NASA Aerospace Education Services Program specialists, who have successfully used them in countless workshops and student programs around the United States. The activities encourage students to explore the nature of flight, and experience some real-life applications of mathematics, science, and technology.

The subject of flight has a wonderful power to inspire learning.

Amazing Space consists of web-based educational presentations for young children about space, which were developed at the Space Telescope Science and Technology Institute. Teachers teamed up with scientists and engineers from the institute and staff members from the Office of Public Outreach to develop interactive lessons. All lessons include spectacular photographs taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and many high quality graphics, videos, and animation designed to enhance student understanding and interest.

This lesson is designed to help students gain knowledge in accessing current weather data and in using the MY NASA DATA Live Access Server (LAS) to specify and download historical satellite data.

Students compare real-time Earth and Mars measurements for temperature, wind speed, humidity and atmospheric pressure by accessing Internet-data resources from NASA.

This timeline chronicles the history of space science and astronomy, and places it in the broader context of the history of society and technology. It begins in 13000 B.C. with the arrival of humans in America, and ends in 2003. Links to additional material on certain topics and persons are embedded in the text.

This lithograph provides a full-disk view of Earth photographed by Apollo 17 astronauts, Dec. 7, 1972. The accompanying text describes the view seen in the photograph and the circumstances in which it was taken. Suggestions for activities in which the photograph can be used are also provided.

Students explore the relationship between angular size, actual size, and distance by using their finger, thumb and fist as a unit of angular measurement in this hands-on activity.

Aqua, Latin for water, is a NASA Earth Science satellite mission named for the large amount of information that the mission is collecting about the Earth's water cycle, including evaporation from the oceans, water vapor in the atmosphere, clouds, precipitation, soil moisture, sea ice, land ice, and snow cover on the land and ice. Additional variables also measured by Aqua include radiative energy fluxes, aerosols, vegetation cover on the land, phytoplankton and dissolved organic matter in the oceans, and air, land, and water temperatures. This brochure provides a comprehensive overview of the Aqua spacecraft, instruments, science, and data products.

The purpose of this investigation is to have students analyze cloud cover and to compose written conclusions to a given related scenario.

This site provides answers and photos for 200 common questions about astronomy and objects in space. Topics include planets, stars, the solar system, comets, asteroids, galaxies, and the night sky.

At the end of 2003, there were 2600 known Near Earth Asteroids (NEAs), and of these 691 are brighter than absolute magnitude, which is taken to correspond to a diameter of 1 kilometer or more. Of these, 131 are classed as PHAs (potentially hazardous asteroids) larger than 1 km. This site describes the potentially devastating effects of a collision between Earth and a large meteor or asteroid. It also describes the Spaceguard Survey, which is an initiative to locate and catalog as many potentially hazardous NEAs as possible. Other parts of the site include: a news archive, bibliography, catalog of near earth objects, image gallery, and links to related sites.

These views of asteroids were imaged at close range by the Galileo and Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft. They are presented at the same scale, and images of Mars' moons, Phobos and Deimos, and Ida's moon Dactyl are also shown. The accompanying text provides a description of the images, some historical facts and statistical data, along with significant dates in asteroid exploration.

In Aster's Hoity Toity Belt, children can listen to a fictitious story about a celestial family of asteroids and their adventures in the skyborhood. As students listen, they will learn about the smaller bodies of our solar system and the Dawn mission by identifying some aspects of the story that are true, some that might be true and some that are false. Educators can choose from three versions, including storyteller, learning notations, or illustrators. The storyteller version can be used to tell the story without comment. The learning version is annotated to provide further explanation to assist in identifying different, truthful and fictional, aspects of the story. The illustrator's version contains space for the children to make their own illustrations to accompany the text.