This is an activity about the requirements of life. Learners will explore what living things need to survive and thrive by creating and caring for a garden plot (outdoors where appropriate) or a container garden (indoors) at the program facility.... (View More) The garden will be used to beautify the facility with plant life with many planting and landscaping options provided. Children will consider the requirements of living things, compare the surface conditions on Mars to those found on Earth, view images/video of a NASA Astrobiology Institute "garden" where astrobiologists are studying life under extreme conditions, and consider the similarities and differences in the type of life that would be possible on Mars as compared to their garden on Earth. It also includes specific tips for effectively engaging girls in STEM. This is activity 3 in Explore: Life on Mars? that was developed specifically for use in libraries. (View Less)

This is a lesson about detecting atmospheres of planets. Learners will explore stellar occultation events (by interpreting light curves) to determine if an imaginary dwarf planet “Snorkzat” has an atmosphere. The activity is part of Project... (View More) Spectra, a science and engineering program for middle-high school students, focusing on how light is used to explore the Solar System. (View Less)

This is a webpage with videos that relate to the Deep Impact Encounter. Learners can watch videos about the mission, encounter, science, and results.

This is a DVD about asteroids and impacts in the solar system. Learners can watch a 7-minute video of the "lifetime" of a meteor. The narrated, subtitled program includes images of impact craters on planets and asteroids, visualizations of the... (View More) Asteroid Belt, animations of collisions between asteroids, an explanation of how collisions between asteroids can create fragments that reach Earth as a meteorite, visualizations of resonances in the asteroid belt, the perturbation of an asteroid fragment toward Earth, an explanation of how meteors that impact Earth might have obtained high and low impact velocities, and visualizations of the range of outcomes from impacts by meteors with different velocities and sizes. The goal is to provide engaging and scientifically accurate animations and images of impact processes in the solar system. The program is specifically designed to dispel commonly-held misconceptions and improve general understanding of solar system science among student's grades 5-12, as well as a broad lay audience. In addition to the 7-minute stand-alone video, the DVD also contains two interactives for Windows® and Macintosh® computers. The first interactive is a version of the above program that allows students and other users to view segments in any order through answering some of the most-commonly asked questions about asteroid impacts. The second interactive, "Make a Collision," allows users to simulate asteroid collisions, by selecting the parameters of collisions between asteroids and then seeing the results. The third interactive, "ImpactChallenge," provides additional experience with simulations Asteroid Belt impacts by giving users additional parameters that can be adjusted to make a wider variety of asteroid collisions. (View Less)

This is a video about the IAU definition of a planet. Learners will watch 3D animation designed to illustrate the history behind the discussion defining the question, what is a planet?, and to outline some of the traits that may be associated with... (View More) the definition of a planet. (View Less)

This episode of the Space Place Live animated talk show features an interview with Andre Dress, the Deputy Project Manager for the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) program. During the course of the interview, viewers are... (View More) introduced to the GOES program and its role in studying the sun, solar flares, weather and our atmosphere. The term geostationary is also explained. Cartoon characters present their own brief talk show from the Space Place Clubhouse. The show presents space program scientists and engineers as role models for kids and encourages them to pursue their dreams. Guests present a short science or technology concept, and also talk about their job, their hobbies, and how they became interested in a career in science or engineering. (View Less)

This is a companion DVD to the educators guide by the same name. It consists of a three-minute introduction, a 21-minute feature presentation, LRO/LCROSS segments to introduce the mission, and seven minutes of extra materials (includes AstroViz: Our... (View More) Moon and moon trivia questions). NASA, CORE and the American Museum of Natural History have worked together to provide educators with toolboxes that support the educators guide and bring this "Field Trip" to life. These toolboxes match up with each of the six science-based team explorations: Ecosystem, Engineering, Geology, Habitat, Medical and Navigation. The DVD and toolboxes are available from the Central Operation of Resources for Educators (CORE) (View Less)

This is a video about NASA's Dawn mission to the asteroids Vesta and Ceres. Learners will follow the mission from paper to launch pad to asteroid belt and beyond. The video features the planning, instrumentation and technological challenges of this... (View More) unique mission. Leonard Nimoy narrates. (View Less)