Register Today for NASA Education Workshops Taking Place This Summer

“Voyage” to the Moon and Beyond Educator Workshop at Space Center Houston on July 7, 2009

Celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing with a full day of educational experiences at Space Center Houston. The “Voyage” to the Moon and Beyond Educator Workshop will take place on July 7, 2009. Each educator will leave this workshop with new curriculum support materials, lunar sample certification, six hours of continuing education credit and a better understanding of our moon and solar system.

The cost for this workshop is $40 per person. It includes lunch at Space Center Houston.

The workshop includes four classes that will take participants to the far reaches of the solar system. Classes include:

–Voyage Solar System Model and Starlab Planetarium: Tour the solar system with the state-of-the-art Voyage Solar System model and travel virtually in the Starlab Planetarium. Each participant will receive “Journey Through the Solar System” curriculum support material that was written by the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education .

–Space Suits Through the Generations: Spacesuits have come a long way since the Mercury program. Learn about the history of the spacesuit, its transformations and the resources available to educators.

–Lunar Sample Certification: Learn about the history of the moon and its geology. Participants will become certified to borrow lunar and meteorite samples. Each participant will receive a Moon Educator Guide.

–Saturn V Experience: Visit Rocket Park and see a full size Saturn V rocket. Learn about the Apollo missions and how they changed the world. Each participant will receive the NASA Rocket Educator Guide filled with ideas on how to use rockets in the classroom.

For more information, visit http://www.spacecenter.org/TeachersWorkshop.html.

Questions about this workshop should be directed to edprograms@spacecenter.org.

Teacher Workshop: Using NASA Observations to Study Changes in Chesapeake Bay

Join NASA for a three-day workshop for middle school teachers that will integrate cutting-edge science observations from space with classroom-ready lessons. This workshop will take place at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., on July 7-9, 2009.

In 2000, the states surrounding the Chesapeake Bay watershed signed an agreement to make significant commitments to changes that will remove the bay from the Environmental Protection Agency’s list of Impaired U.S. Waters by 2010. Aided by NASA’s remote-sensing missions, scientists studying the Chesapeake Bay have made fascinating discoveries that have unlocked the unique history of the bay and that can inform strategic plans for improving its future.

An overarching theme of the Chesapeake Bay’s place in space, time and the Earth system will tie together lessons in geology (impact craters), land use change, air quality and water cycle as participants look at the long-ago past and into the future. Education specialists who work with NASA missions will provide a rich experience and a multitude of resources for learning more.

This workshop is limited to 30 participants. Participating in the workshop itself is free, but participants must cover their own expenses for travel, meals and hotel.

This workshop will also be offered in 2010.

For more information and to register online, visit http://education.gsfc.nasa.gov/bay/.

If you have questions about this workshop, please contact Trena Ferrell at Trena.M.Ferrell@nasa.gov. Please include “Chesapeake Bay” in the subject line of your message.

NASA’s Beginning Engineering, Science and Technology Workshop on July 30-31, 2009

Apollo 11 was the first manned mission to land on the moon in July 1969. Do you remember the excitement you felt hearing and seeing that happen? Now zoom forward to the present and imagine bringing that same excitement to your children or grandchildren. Today’s students will watch humans return to the moon and even be a part of a living and working community on the moon. NASA wants to inspire this generation to be the engineers and scientists that make lunar exploration a reality.

For two days, NASA invites you to be a part of a unique, interactive, hands-on workshop that will teach all generations how NASA plans to return to the moon. Come make lunar maps, build a satellite and program a rover. This promises to be a fun-filled learning experience for all.

This multi-generational, two-day workshop event will take place July 30-31, 2009, in Point Lookout, Maine.

Explore together, learn together and inspire each other.

For more information, please contact Dr. Marci Delaney at marci.delaney@nasa.gov, 301-286-7992.

Hands-on Astronomy and Earth-science Education Workshops for Grade 4-12 Teachers on Sept. 12-13, 2009

A weekend of hands-on workshops and informative science talks will be offered as part of the 120th anniversary meeting of the nonprofit Astronomical Society of the Pacific. These workshops will take place Sept. 12-13, 2009, at the Westin Hotel near the San Francisco Airport in Millbrae, Calif.

The program will include space science and earth science workshops for educators of grades 4 through 12, as well as sessions for educators who work in informal settings (such as museums, nature centers, amateur astronomy clubs, and community organizations.)

No background in astronomy will be assumed or required. Experienced educators from the Society’s staff, from NASA and NSF-sponsored projects, and from educational institutions around the country will be presenting. Only a limited number of spaces will be available, and, thanks to conference supporters, registration for each day of the workshop will be only $39.

Sunday afternoon will feature a special nontechnical lecture series about the search for life among the stars, with some of the leading scientists from the SETI Institute describing the scientific experiments now under way to identify life beyond Earth.

Thanks to the support of the Spitzer Space Telescope Science Center, a limited number of travel-support scholarships (of up to $300 per person) will be made available for educators.

For more information, visit http://www.astrosociety.org/events/2009mtg/workshops.html.