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This is a simple reference sheet, offering basic tips for leading the hands-on activities in your toolkit. It includes suggestions for engaging and encouraging visitors, as well as for handling difficult concepts and misconceptions. PDF and DOC formats included.

"Exploring the Solar System: Craters" is an active, hands-on activity that demonstrates how craters form, and what they can teach us about the history and composition of planets and moons. By dropping objects of various sizes and shapes into a...

This online discussion provides a demonstration and overview of the hands-on STEM activities in the 2018 Explore Science: Earth & Space toolkit, tips for using training materials, forming local collaborations, and suggestions for marketing your events and programs. This online...

"Exploring Earth: Bear’s Shadow" is a hands-on activity designed primarily for young visitors and their families. Participants move a flashlight around an object to make and experiment with shadows. The activity can be connected to a storybook about a little...

In "Exploring the Universe: Exoplanet Transits," participants simulate one of the methods scientists use to discover planets orbiting distant stars. Even when a planet is too far away to observe directly, scientists can infer its presence by watching for slight,...

In collaboration with NASA, the NISE Network has assembled a set of engaging, hands-on Earth and space science experiences with connections to science, technology, and society.

With the August 21st total solar eclipse just around the corner, a high-quality online stream of this rare event can add content and context for your visitors. Robyn Higdon from the Exploratorium, with help from Frank Kusiak at the Lawrence...

Visitors bring different experiences and knowledge to the activity table, which sometimes helps and sometimes adds confusion to their learning. In this online workshop, participants learned how to identify common patterns of thinking (including misconceptions, preconceived notions and vernacular issues)...

"Exploring the Universe: Imagining Life" is a hands-on activity in which visitors imagine and draw an extreme environment beyond Earth, then invent a living thing that could thrive in it. They learn that NASA scientists study extremophiles on Earth to...

Take events using the Explore Science: Earth & Space toolkits to the next level by partnering with NASA's Solar System Ambassadors and local Night Sky Network member astronomy groups. Listen to how other NISE Net partners incorporated these talented and...

Powerpoint presentations providing a NISE Network overview at different points in time. The NISE Network encourages partners to download and use the most recent version of the slides to use for their own presentations.

This slideshow presentation (with accompanying notes) acts as a quick overview of your Explore Science: Earth & Space toolkit and the individual activities contained within.

"Exploring Earth: Paper Mountains" lets participants explore the way the shape of the land and the pull of gravity influence how water moves over Earth. By making unique mountain models from crumpled paper and watching how water moves across them,...

Museum educators have long used a combination of content, process and cross-cutting concepts in their activities. Identifying these elements in your programming, and building towards NGSS performance expectations through your field trips, may attract formal educators to your school and...

Included here are links to each activity training and content training video for the Explore Science: Earth & Space toolkit (2018 and 2017 kits), as well as a link to the entire Explore Science: Earth & Space toolkit video album.

In "Exploring the Solar System: Stomp Rockets," participants learn about how some rockets carry science tools—not scientists—into space, and how a special kind of rocket called "sounding rockets" can be used for quick, low-flying scientific missions into space. Participants will...

Learn more about helpful safety information museum professionals can use in the preparation and implementation of events for the public. This online workshop begins with a focus on chemistry safety in planning for and hosting outreach events such as for...

This online workshop gives an introduction to the new Space & Earth Informal STEM Education (SEISE) project; focussing primarily on an overview of what’s in the new Explore Science: Earth & Space toolkits, including information about how to apply and...

This online presentation and discussion covered the science behind three of the 2017 Explore Science: Earth and Space toolkit activities - Ice Orbs, Imagining Life, and Pocket Solar System. After a brief overview of each activity and associated materials, Katherine...

"Exploring the Universe: Ice Orbs" is a hands-on activity in which visitors investigate a frozen sphere, trying to learn about objects hidden inside. Participants learn that planetary scientists at NASA are investigating "icy worlds" in the outer solar system, looking...

This online presentation covered strategies for finding and connecting additional NASA and Earth and space science related resources. NISE Net Earth & Space Content Expert, Lindsay Bartolone, one of the leaders behind NASAWavelength.org, guided participants through NASA'S Science Mission Directorate's...

During this online workshop, NISE Network partners learn about the Explore Science: Earth & Space project and how your organization can become more involved in this exciting opportunity. Presenters also share a general overview of what’s in the new 2019...

Sample press photos for creating your own Explore Science: Earth & Space promotional materials

This Explore Science: Earth & Space events video highlights just a few of our NISE Net partnering institutions and their incredible work hosting events in 2017 in their communities between March and August of 2017. There are two version of...

It can be challenging to know what ideas and experiences learners already have when they visit an informal education venue. What facilitation approaches will help them build productive and deep conceptual learning about Earth and space science? When educators anticipate...