Volunteer experts are a key ingredient to many successful public engagement efforts. Volunteer networks focused on astronomy and space include: 1) Solar System Ambassadors Program, 2) Night Sky Network of astronomy clubs, and 3) AAS Astronomy Ambassadors 1) The Solar...
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...
Amateur astronomers, research scientists, and other experts, are often enthusiastic volunteers and eager to share their excitement for astronomy with the public. In this workshop, presenters shared info on how to find local experts and effectively collaborate with them to...
"Exploring Earth: Rising Sea" is a hands-on activity demonstrating ways to use topographical mapping techniques to track changes in sea level. The activity is connected to current NASA research. Together, participants and facilitators can discuss the effects of rising sea...
Nanoscale science and technology ("nano" for short) is all around us and growing rapidly. Learn how you can use nanotechnology to clean drinking water right now!
Welcome to your Explore Science: Earth & Space toolkit! This section contains everything you will need to begin planning and promoting your Earth & Space event. The downloadable planning and promotion guide will walk you through your event. Also included...
Included here are digital copies of promotional materials for your Explore Science: Earth & Space toolkit. In addition to ready-to-print materials, you will find design files and images for customizing existing materials or creating your own! For customizable materials, be...
"Exploring the Solar System: Hide and Seek Moon" is an engaging way for early childhood learners to experiment with some of the tools scientists use to study objects that are very, very far away, and to learn about how cultures...
"Exploring the Universe: Filtered Light" demonstrates how scientists can use telescopes and other tools to capture and filter different energies of light to study the universe. Most objects in the universe are so distant from us that we can only...
The Girl Scouts announced a new set of STEM badges in 2017! Join us to learn about the new badges, and how science museums can successfully partner with their local Girl Scout troops. We'll be joined by STEM Strategy staff...
"Exploring the Solar System: Pocket Solar System" is a hands-on activity in which visitors make a scale model of the distances between objects in our solar system. They learn that there is a lot of space between planets, and that...
Space telescopes can offer us better, clearer views of the universe (and of our own planet) than Earth-based telescopes can, but getting these large, delicate pieces of equipment into orbit is tricky. In "Exploring the Universe: Pack a Space Telescope,"...
Planning for the August 21st, 2017 Total Solar Eclipse? This recorded online presentation and discussion covers the science behind the 2017 total solar eclipse that will cross the continental United States from Oregon to South Carolina, and provides suggestions for...
"Exploring the Universe: Orbiting Objects" is a hands-on activity that invites visitors to experiment with different sized and weighted balls on a stretchy fabric gravity well. The activity models gravitational attraction in space. Participants investigate how changing conditions can cause...
This online presentation and discussion covers the science behind three of the 2018 Explore Science: Earth & Space toolkit activities - Pack a Space Telescope, Exoplanet Transits, and Objects in Motion. After a brief overview of each activity and its...
This hands-on SustainABLE activity is meant to promote conversation about how water is distributed and used, and how we can work together to conserve this limited resource. In different parts of the country, guests may be familiar with different issues...
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...
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,...
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...
"Exploring Earth: Investigating Clouds" is a hands-on activity in which visitors create a cloud in a bottle and explore it with laser light. The activity is connected to current and ongoing NASA mission research. Participants learn about ways that NASA...
"Exploring Nano & Society - Space Elevator" is a open-ended conversational experience in which visitors imagine and draw what a space elevator might look like, what support systems would surround it, and what other technologies it might enable. Conversation around...
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...
"Exploring Size - Powers of Ten" is a card game exploring the relative sizes of various objects. Visitors compete to organize their hand of cards into lists of objects from largest to smallest. "Explore Science - Zoom into Nano Powers...