For Educators – Page 2 – NeRDs Moonbase

Slow Your Student’s ‘Summer Slide’ and Beat Boredom With NASA STEM

June 17, 2024 NeRD

4 Min Read Slow Your Student’s ‘Summer Slide’ and Beat Boredom With NASA STEM Creating and testing soda-straw rockets is a fun way for younger students to avoid the “summer slide” and stay engaged in STEM during summer vacation. Credits: NASA The school year has come to an end, and those long summer days are stretching ahead like an open runway. Parents and educators often worry about the “summer slide,” the concept that students may lose academic ground while out of school. But summer doesn’t mean students’ imaginations have to…

Maine Educators Re-Energized After Gathering

February 29, 2024 NeRD

2 min read Maine Educators Re-Energized After Gathering On February 28-29, 2024, 57 teachers, librarians, and out-of-school educators gathered for a two-day retreat organized and supported by members of the NASA Science Activation Program’s Learning Ecosystems Northeast project team. Based at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI), Learning Ecosystems Northeast (LENE) supports regional peer communities of educators who are working to co-develop data-rich climate learning experiences that span learning contexts. This high-energy leap-day retreat was held on the campus of the University of Maine Orono (a project partner) and…

Eclipse Resources for Learners and Educators: Connecting the Eclipse to Astrophysics

February 23, 2024 NeRD

1 min read Eclipse Resources for Learners and Educators: Connecting the Eclipse to Astrophysics In anticipation of the upcoming total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, NASA’s Universe of Learning has created a webpage of astrophysics-related eclipse resources for learners and educators. The webpage shares information about two topics that align with eclipse science: gravitational lensing and exoplanet transits. The collection of resources includes articles, images, and videos to understand and explain the science. Additional activities allow learners to explore gravitational lensing and exoplanet transit science for themselves. Explore Resources…

Math, Mentorship, Motherhood: Behind the Scenes with NASA Engineers

February 22, 2024 NeRD

Engineering is a huge field with endless applications. From aerospace to ergonomics, engineers play an important role in designing, building, and testing technologies all around us. We asked three engineers at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley to share their experiences, from early challenges they faced in their careers to the day-to-day of being a working engineer. Give us a look behind the curtain – what is it like being an engineer at NASA? In her early days at NASA, Diana Acosta visited her aeronautics research and development…

Enhancing Engagement: Strategies for STEM Professionals to Encourage Youth to Consider STEM Careers

February 21, 2024 NeRD

3 min read Enhancing Engagement: Strategies for STEM Professionals to Encourage Youth to Consider STEM Careers Check out the latest from the NASA Inspires Futures for Tomorrow’s Youth (NIFTY) NASA Science Activation project team! Led by Twin Cities PBS in St. Paul, MN, NIFTY is committed to broadening youth participation in STEM studies by providing opportunities for youth to interact with and learn from NASA STEM professionals. Building on initiatives like the SciGirls television series, online resources, and hands-on activities, NIFTY aims to change how young minds perceive science, technology,…

Northern Maine Educators Prepare for Totality!

February 15, 2024 NeRD

2 min read Northern Maine Educators Prepare for Totality! More than 70 teachers, librarians, and informal educators from Aroostook County, Maine gathered to exchange ideas and make plans in preparation for celebrating the upcoming total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. Sponsored by the NASA Science Activation project Learning Ecosystems Northeast (LENE) and organized/hosted by Francis Malcolm Science Center (FMSC) in Easton, ME, these Trek to Totality events held on January 30 and February 13, 2024 included activity demonstrations by LENE partners, Gulf of Maine Research Institute and University of…

International Colloquium on Space and Sustainability in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico

November 16, 2023 NeRD

2 min read International Colloquium on Space and Sustainability in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico Members of NASA Science Activation’s NASA Earth Science Education Collaborative (NESEC) were recently invited to present and participate as part of a space and citizen science panel session at the International Colloquium on Space and Sustainability, held at the Ciudad Creativa Digital’s Plataforma Abierta de Innovación in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. The Colloquium, held November 13 to 16, 2023, is a collaboration with NASA to foster discussion in Mexico about the current state of the use of Earth…