HIGHER EDUCATION
STEAM Resources for Higher Education. Opportunities for Students and Faculty.
NSBRI leads a national effort to conduct biomedical research necessary to support long-term human presence in space and then enhances life on Earth by applying the resulting advances in human knowledge and technology. NSBRI supports students with space life sciences programs aimed at undergraduates to postdoctoral fellows. The website offers a list of various opportunities for those in research areas from aerospace engineering to veterinary medicine.
NASA Aeronautics University Student Research Challenge
NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate seeks proposals from university students for new aeronautics ideas/concepts that are relevant to NASA aeronautics. Selected teams will receive grants for their projects, and will also be responsible for raising a modest amount of cost-share funds through a crowdfunding platform. The process of creating and preparing a crowdfunding campaign acts as a teaching accelerator, requiring students to develop entrepreneurial skills. Crowdfunding also raises awareness about students’ research among the public.
Deadline: June 24.
RASC-AL competitions fuel innovation for aerospace systems concepts, analogs, and technology prototyping by bridging gaps through university engagement. RASC-AL is open to undergraduate and graduate university-level students studying fields with applications to human space exploration (i.e., aerospace, bio-medical, electrical, and mechanical engineering; and life, physical, and computer sciences).
NASA Fellowships
NASA internships and fellowships leverage NASA’s unique missions and programs to enhance and increase the capability, diversity and size of the nation’s future science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEAM) workforce. Internships are available from high school to graduate level. Internships provide students with the opportunity to participate in either research or other experiential learning, under the guidance of a mentor at NASA.
NASA Fellowships
Each year the NASA Fellowship Activity seeks student-authored and independently conceived graduate research proposals responding to a NASA Research Opportunity listed in the solicitation. The NASA Fellowship Activity is designed to support NASA STEAM Engagement objectives and to provide academic institutions the ability to enhance graduate-level learning and development.
NASA Postdoctoral Program
Set to launch in the summer of 2022, NASA’s Psyche mission will be the first to explore a world likely made largely of metal. Scientists hope that studying asteroid Psyche will give insights into how Earth’s core and the cores of the other terrestrial planets came to be. The NASA Psyche Mission Innovation Toolkit includes free online courses based on the real-world science, engineering, technology and teamwork behind the Psyche mission. Two courses are currently available, and more will be developed throughout the life of the mission.
EDUCATORS
Resources for Educators
PreK -12 Resources for New School Routines
As teachers, students, and families deal with school closures, PBS LearningMedia producers and educators have come together to curate a special collection of resources organized by grade and subject area. Find videos, lesson plans, and activities that support learning at home. Create a free account to save and organize content. Featured lesson plans in this collection contain full contextualization for the media they include. Plan and adapt our lessons in creative ways, using the Lesson Builder.
NASA Aeronautics University Student Research Challenge
WGBH in collaboration with NASA presents digital media resources you can use to teach topics in K–12 Earth and Space Science. These free resources are organized into four grade bands. Each resource emphasizes engaging students in phenomena related to core ideas and science and engineering practices of the Next Generation Science Standards.
Infiniscope
Use a model to create stars from a stellar nebula and track those stars through their life cycles in an attempt to resolve conflicts and answer questions from party attendees. Collect evidence of star colors, luminosity, solar mass, lifespans, composition, and temperature along your journey. Are you an educator looking for more? Join the community for free!
Earth Day
Fifty years ago, people around the world celebrated the first Earth Day (April 22, 1970). Organizers selected dates and planned activities specifically to engage young people in the growing environmental awareness movement. As we plan for Earth Day, NASA continues that outreach to young people and their mentors by pulling together various resources from across the agency into this online Earth Day Toolkit.
GAMES
Resources for Educators
SciGirls from PBS
SciGirls & SciGirls en Espanol provide great learning opportunities for students guided by amazing role models.
NASA Kids' Club
NASA Kids’ Club – a place to play games and learn about NASA!
Brewster Rockit:
Space Guy
Enjoy this rocket science comic strip with Brewster!
InSight Lander on Mars
NASA’s InSight lander isn’t camera-shy. The spacecraft used a camera on its robotic arm to take its first selfie — a mosaic made up of 11 images.
Aestroid Day with Kerbel
Your mission will be to recreate this mission profile in Kerbal Space Program, deploying a telescope around Eve’s orbit. When deployed with an antenna and a power source between Eve and Kerbin, aligned to face away from the Sun, and activated, the telescope will begin to map the orbit of the outer planet in a 200° vision cone for passing asteroids.
STUDENTS
Activities for students in grades K-8.
Make Stretchy Slime
Did you know that our universe is stretching out in all directions? It’s true! Ever since the universe began about 13.8 billion years ago, it’s been stretching out and expanding. In this activity, you’ll make your own stretchy universe slime.
More to Explore Weather
Subject: Weather and Climate. Click the image above to find games to play, videos to watch, things to make and stories to read.
A-Z Activity Sheets
Subject: Living and Working in Space. Download this printable coloring, writing and activity book. Work puzzles and learn new words about NASA’s Commercial Crew Program that will launch astronauts to space on American rockets.
Rocket Science Ride
The interactive app gives an overview of the complexities involved in getting to and conducting research aboard the International Space Station. The app is also challenging and fun! The Commercial Crew Program focuses on working with NASA’s two partners Boeing and SpaceX to create American commercial capabilities to safely send humans to and from the International Space Station.
FAMILIES
These are activities for the whole family and links to NASA resources sites by grade level.
NASA K-4
Activities for students in grades K-4.
NASA Science Projects
NASA wants to be sure that every student, educator and lifelong learner has access to the resources and inspiration of NASA to continue their studies or enrich their ongoing journey. Below you will find access to everything from formal lesson plans to amazing imagery and stories about how science and exploration are lifting our world. There will also be ongoing opportunities to chat and interact with scientists directly. We know there’s a community of space science enthusiasts worldwide, and we want to provide a place to connect and to share the discoveries that continue to unfold.
NEMO - Net
NeMO-Net is a single player iPad game where players help NASA classify coral reefs by painting 3D and 2D images of coral. Players can rate the classifications of other players and level up in the food chain as they explore and classify coral reefs and other shallow marine environments and creatures from locations all over the world!
NASA 5-8
Activities for students in grades 5-8.
Planet Four
Project Zooniverse
Planet Four is a citizen science project designed to help planetary scientists identify and measure features on the surface of Mars . . . the likes of which don’t exist on Earth. All of the images on this site depict the southern polar region, an area of Mars that we know little about, and the majority of which have never been seen by human eyes before!
More to Explore
This website provides students of history with an opportunity to explore primary sources, whilst contributing to their preservation and study. It will also allow African American genealogists to link descendants to the soldiers and through them to earlier ancestors. The transcription process allows users to leave comments, raising awareness of individual soldier’s stories and the challenges they faced in a white-dominated Army.
AVIATION FOR GIRLS
Women in Aviation International is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the encouragement and advancement of women in all aviation career fields and interests.
Aviation for Girls App
Our diverse membership includes astronauts, corporate pilots, maintenance technicians, air traffic controllers, business owners, educators, journalists, flight attendants, high school and university students, air show performers, airport managers and many others.
BADGES
Explore Aerospace is the ASK badge program that introduces students to different areas of Aerospace. This is a 6 hour program.
Badge 1: Aeronautics
An investigation of the Four Forces of Flight, Wind Socks, Rotor Motors, & more!
Grades: K-6.
Click here for the assignment
Click here for the list of supplies
Badge 4: Drones
Learn the basics of building and flying a drone with this badge. We will teach you about drones and help you find a program where you can build and fly your own drones. Learn about the requirements to be a drone pilot.
Badge 2: Powerplants
A powerplant is the propulsion system that makes things fly. We will explore the difference between the engines for Planes vs Rockets. Learn about the different types of powerplants, what they power, and the electric aircraft being designed today.
Badge 5: Space Travel
How do we get to the moon, mars and beyond? SpaceX, Blue Origin and other amazing companies are creating the vehicles we need to make these trips. Learn about them with the Space Travel Badg
Badge 3: Solar System
Learn about the planets in our solar system. NASA tells us that “Our solar system consists of our star, the Sun, and everything bound to it by gravity — the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, dwarf planets such as Pluto, dozens of moons and millions of asteroids, comets and meteoroids. Beyond our own solar system, we have discovered thousands of planetary systems orbiting other stars in the Milky Way” Want to learn more now?
Badge 6: Robotics
Discover robots with our partners ORTOP, an organization that gives middle school-aged students a chance to design, build, and program a robot to play a floor game against other teams’ creations.
SPACE IMAGERY
Hubble Space Telescope
JPL Photojournal
