The Science Education Team at NASA Langley Research Center’s Science Directorate is an interdisciplinary team of educators, scientists, technology experts and communications specialists, collaborating with the education community to bring authentic Earth science practices and NASA Earth science data into the classroom.
We provide the public with unique NASA experiences, engaging activities, and advanced technology. Our products are developed and reviewed by science and education experts. Our goals include inspiring the next generation of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) professionals and improving STEM literacy by providing innovative participation pathways for educators, students, and the public.
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My NASA Data (MND) is one of the few NASA Earth Science educator resources providing grade 3-12 teachers access to NASA mission data through unique tools that help students learn about Earth system science. My NASA Data features phenomena and related resources from each of the spheres in the Earth system: Atmosphere, Biosphere, Cryosphere, Geosphere, and the Hydrosphere. Resources are aligned to Next Generation Science Standards and other national standards. The My NASA Data visualization tool, Earth System Data Explorer (ESDE), helps learners visualize NASA data sets over space and time.
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The CERES S’COOL Project, started in 1997, involves students and the citizen science community in real science, by making, reporting and analyzing ground observations of clouds. S’COOL has since joined forces with the GLOBE Program creating a larger community of cloud observers across 120+ countries. GLOBE Clouds provides tips on making observations of clouds and educational resources on the importance of clouds as powerful agents of global change.
GLOBE Observer invites you to make environmental observations that complement NASA satellite observations to help scientists studying Earth and the global environment. 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. GLOBE Observer currently accepts observations of Clouds, Mosquito Habitats, Land Cover and Trees with planned expansion to other types of data in the future.
Earth’s energy balance determines the climate of the Earth. Our understanding of these energy flows will continue to evolve as scientists obtain a longer and longer record using new and better instruments.Resources include the Earth’s energy budget diagram and story.
NASA’s Langley Research Center has been a GLOBE Partner since 2003 providing support to educators implementing GLOBE and providing scientific research support for various atmospheric science protocols. GLOBE is a worldwide hands-on, science and education program that promotes collaboration among students, teachers, the citizen science community, and scientists to conduct inquiry-based investigations about our environment. Teachers from over 120 countries are trained to lead their students to collect valid scientific measurements of Earth. Together the GLOBE community has collected over 100 million measurements.
This series of informal games can be used at events that can quickly engage visitors to a NASA booth. These games are to be printed using a large format printer and then mounted to a piece of foam core. Assembly instructions and information about the game pieces are available for each game. The games can be placed on a table-top using an easel or can even be placed flat on the table so that smaller children can easily reach the pieces.
Elementary GLOBE is designed to introduce students in grades K-4 to the study of Earth system science. Each module of Elementary GLOBE includes: a science-based fictional storybook in which kids explore an aspect of the Earth system using their science skills, three learning activities that further explore the science content while helping students develop science and engineering practices, and coloring sheets. Teacher’s notes and a glossary to give educators basic science background information pertaining to each module topic.
The NASA Long-term Engagement in Authentic Research with NASA (LEARN) Project is an innovative program that provides educators with on-site research and training with NASA Scientists in the summer and guided research projects that continue on throughout the school year. These educators conduct their own research with help of a team of NASA Scientists and share and integrate these projects into the classroom.
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