http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/resources/news/ Earth and Space Science News for Educators en-us webmaster@lpi.usra.edu (LPI Webmaster) Copyright 2009, Lunar and Planetary Institute Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:05:00 CST http://www.lpi.usra.edu/images/lpi_logo_sm.gif http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/resources/news/ 3553 1440 01234561920212223 SaturdaySunday http://wise.ssl.berkeley.edu/mission.html http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/resources/news/?calendar=22 http://stardate.org/nightsky/meteors/ http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/resources/news/?calendar=21 http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/december-solstice.html http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/resources/news/?calendar=24 http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEmono/ASE2010/ASE2010.html http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/resources/news/?calendar=25 http://sunearthday.nasa.gov/2010/index.php http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/resources/news/?calendar=26 http://prescott.erau.edu/about/nasa/online-workshops/index.html You only need an internet connection and a computer with audio capability to participate. Upcoming workshop topics include Toys in Space, the Environment of the Sun, and Microgravity. http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/resources/news/?article=194 http://wise.ssl.berkeley.edu/education_workshop.html High school teachers are invited to join the Hands-On Universe project, Global Systems Science and the WISE mission at 1-day teacher workshops, in Ashburn, VA, Austin TX, and Belmont, NH. http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/resources/news/?article=190 http://mcdonaldobservatory.org/teachers/profdev/ At McDonald Observatory in West Texas, participants conduct inquiry-based activities aligned with science and mathematics TEKS and TAKS, and practice new astronomy skills under the Observatory?s dark skies. Application deadline February 8, 2010. http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/resources/news/?article=189 http://www.spacecenter.org/TeachersSEEC.html This conference on February 4-6, 2010 at Space Center Houston is for K-12 teachers. Early registration now available. http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/resources/news/?article=187 http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/workshops/workshops.shtml The Lunar and Planetary Institute, in conjunction with Johnson Space Center?s Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science education, is offering middle school and high school Earth science workshops this fall at the Harris County Department of Education. http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/resources/news/?article=112 http://prescott.erau.edu/about/nasa/online-workshops/index.html The NASA Educator Resource Center at Prescott, AZ, is offering monthly free online training for teacher on topics like robotics, meteorology, astronomy and rocket science! http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/resources/news/?article=132 http://hubblesite.org/about_us/public_talks/ The free public lectures at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) are webcast on the first Tuesday each month, as a noted scientist discusses a different cosmic topic. http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/resources/news/?article=212 http://www.agu.org/meetings/fm09/outreach/index.php There will be a variety of education events at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco, Dec. 14-18, including a workshop for teachers, a family science event, a public lecture and reception, and a variety of presentations on Earth science education and public outreach. http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/resources/news/?article=209 http://www.lpi.usra.edu/mymoon/ Dr. Mark Sykes, planetary scientist/space policy expert will speak online MyMoon. Mark will discuss an often over-looked option for the direction of the future of the U.S. Space program. http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/resources/news/?article=201 http://www.agu.org/meetings/fm09/program/scientific_session_search.php?show=session&section=7&cosection=0&category=&keysearch=&title=1&desc=1&searchBy=sponsor The Fall Meeting of the AGU, Dec. 14-18 in San Francisco, provides an opportunity for researchers, teachers, students, and consultants to present and review the latest issues affecting the Earth, the planets, and their environments in space. http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/resources/news/?article=121 http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/space_days/ Children between the ages of 5 and 8 are invited to the Lunar and Planetary Institute with their families to explore space science! Third Saturday of each month. http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/resources/news/?article=38 http://www.lewiscenter.org/gavrt/opportunities.php K-12 teachers and students are invited to participate in the Goldstone Apple Valley Radio Telescope (GAVRT) program, in which teachers are trained to have their students to operate and control a 110-foot, 500-ton deep space radio telescope located at NASA's Deep Space Communication Complex at Goldstone, California. http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/resources/news/?article=210 http://develop.larc.nasa.gov/ The DEVELOP program is a NASA Science Mission Directorate Applied Sciences program that fosters the training and development of students in the atmospheric and Earth sciences. Selected students from high school through doctoral levels work on teams at eight locations nationwide. Applications for the spring 2010 session are due Nov. 30, 2009. http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/resources/news/?article=207 http://www.amfcse.org/Alan%20Shepard%20Award/alan_shepard_award.htm The Alan Shepard Technology in Education Award recognizes the accomplishments of one outstanding classroom teacher and his or her contributions to lifelong learning through the application of technology in the classroom or professional development of teachers. The deadline for applications is Jan. 16, 2010. http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/resources/news/?article=204 http://www.einsteinfellows.org/index.html The Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship is a paid fellowship for K-12 math, science, and technology teachers. Einstein Fellows spend a school year in Washington, DC serving in a federal agency or on Capitol Hill. Applicatin deadline: January 13, 2010. http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/resources/news/?article=202 http://wlmr.nasa.gov/ Student teams from grades fifth through eighth are challenged to create a sustainable water recycling system for the Moon, and can win a trip to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Entries due Feb. 1, 2010. http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/resources/news/?article=200 http://www.bioedonline.org/space/STS_Mission_129.cfm On November 16, 2009, Painted Lady butterflies will fly aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis to the International Space Station (ISS), and classes are invited to share in the data and join this investigation in real time. http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/resources/news/?article=197 http://www.strategies.org/education/index.aspx?sub=education&sub2=scholars&sub3=scholars2010 The 2010 Thacher Environmental Research Contest awards cash prizes to secondary school students (grades 9-12) whose projects demonstrate the best use of satellites and other geospatial technologies or data to study Earth. Entries due April 5, 2010. http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/resources/news/?article=191 http://beamartian.jpl.nasa.gov/ Drawing on observations from NASA's Mars missions, this site invites the public to participate as citizen scientists to improve Martian maps, take part in research tasks, and assist Mars science teams studying data about the Red Planet. http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/resources/news/?article=211 http://discoverynewfrontiers.nasa.gov/ Free copies of the NASA "Space Thrills" poster may be ordered while supplies last by clicking on "EDUCATORS ONLY - Send Me a Poster!" This poster for K-4 students uses reading and writing activities to teach students about the solar system. http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/resources/news/?article=208 http://chandra.harvard.edu/resources/handouts/constellations/ This series of posters by the Chandra X-Ray Observatory represents some of the most dramatic images made by combining data from the best of modern telescopes, and is accompanied by activities. Activities and posters can be downloaded from the website or requested at http://chandra.harvard.edu/edu/request_const.html. http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/resources/news/?article=177 http://www.yearinspace.com/ The Year In Space is now offering free online and e-mail versions of its desk calendar. http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/resources/news/?article=175 http://www.astrosociety.org/2012/ab2009-32.pdf The Astronomical Society of the Pacific has published an article on the hoax that Dec. 21, 2012 will be doomsday for planet Earth because of some astronomical event. http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/resources/news/?article=173 http://spaceplace.jpl.nasa.gov/en/kids/storybooks/ NASA's Space Place offers five online children's books with animated page turning. The books are also available for download. http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/resources/news/?article=171 http://classroomastronomer.toteachthestars.net/ This new quarterly practitioner full-color publication is 24-pages full of practical how-to articles on the teaching of astronomy, both content and pedagogy. It is available as a free pdf and as a subscription printed version. http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/resources/news/?article=167 http://www.universetoday.com/2009/11/12/unusual-massive-white-dwarf-stars-have-oxygen-atmospheres/ Researchers have discovered two white dwarfs with oxygen-rich atmospheres; these once-massive stars avoided the core collapse of a supernova. http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/resources/news/?article=199 http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/13nov_lcrossresults.htm?list812372 Preliminary data from NASA's Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, indicates that water does exist in a permanently shadowed lunar crater! The discovery opens a new chapter in our understanding of the Moon. http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/resources/news/?article=198 http://www.universetoday.com/2009/11/09/surprise-unknown-asteroid-buzzed-earth/ A previously undiscovered asteroid came within 14,000 km of Earth last week, and astronomers noticed it only 15 hours before closest approach. http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/resources/news/?article=196 http://www.universetoday.com/2009/11/11/shedding-light-on-the-suns-lithium-mystery/ For decades, astronomers have known our Sun contains a low amount of lithium, compared to other solar-like stars. Scientists have now discovered that the majority of stars hosting planets possess less than 1% of the amount of lithium shown by other stars. This finding provides astronomers with a new tool in their search for stars with planetary systems. http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/resources/news/?article=195 http://www.universetoday.com/2009/10/19/harps-discovers-32-new-exoplanets/ Astronomers have found 32 new planets outside our solar system, bringing the number of known exoplanets to 406. Included in this most recent batch are several low-mass planets, so-called "Super Earths" about the size of Neptune. http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/resources/news/?article=182 http://www.universetoday.com/2009/10/20/organic-molecules-detected-in-exoplanet-atmosphere/ Molecules of carbon dioxide, methane, and water vapor have been detected in a second planet's atmosphere outside of our Solar System. The Jupiter-sized planet has a tight, 3.5-day orbit around a sun-like star. The planet is not habitable but it has the same chemistry that, if found around a rocky planet in the future, could indicate the presence of life. http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/resources/news/?article=181 http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/15oct_ibex.htm?list812372 The Interstellar Boundary Explorer mission, which monitors how the solar wind interacts with the gas and dust throughout our solar system, has discovered an unexpected bright band or ribbon of surprisingly high-energy emissions at the edge of our solar system. http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/resources/news/?article=176