This is an activity about asteroids. Learners will shape mashed potatoes into their own odd-shaped asteroids. They can then bake them in the oven to turn them (more or less) asteroid color, and eat them for dinner.

In this activity, children make a mobile of galaxies; patterns and instructions are included. It introduces the different shapes of galaxies and their nomenclature. Note that young children will need assistance from an adult or older child to safely complete this activity.

This is an activity about constellations. Learners will make a "star finder" toy and play a game to find a constellation in the night sky.

This article explains the monthly variations in the Moon's appearance as seen from Earth. Directions for using Oreo cookies to illustrate the four major phases of the Moon are provided. The article is targeted to children ages 10-12.

This article describes the work being done by scientists to determine the origin of water found in Earth's oceans. A supplemental exploration of the Herschel Space Observatory is included. The article is targeted to children ages 10-12.

In this activity, participants choose a science story theme from a provided list and provide parts of speech as indicated. The program inserts the words into the story script, produces a completed story and provides related science facts. The activity is targeted to children ages 10-12.

Each student will choose a topic to be the “teacher” for regarding Space Science. Some topics are more difficult than others, so choosing topics should be guided. They will be in charge of teaching the class about their topic, including providing handouts to assist with learning and an assessment with a rubric to check understanding.

In this lesson, students are introduced to the historical motivation for space exploration. They learn about the International Space Station as an example of recent space travel innovation and are introduced to new and futuristic ideas that space engineers are currently working on to propel space research far into the future!

This is an interactive, real-time display system of space science images and data designed for museums and schools. The program displays hundreds of images and movies from space science research, all documented, with web references of how to find out more information. The materials also include a large number of space science educational activities. The software is available for purchase. Full-screen versions without support files are available for download but require a registration number after a 30-day demo period.

This is a booklet containing 96 mathematics problems involving skills relating to algebra, fractions, graph analysis, geometry, measurement, scale, calculus, and other topics. Learners will use mathematics to explore NASA science and space exploration content relating to space weather, the study of the Sun and its interactions with Earth. Each problem or problem set is introduced with a brief paragraph about the underlying science, written in a simplified, non-technical jargon where possible. Problems are often presented as a multi-step or multi-part activities, and there are problem sets for learners in grades 3-5, 6-8 and 9-12. This booklet can be found on the Space Math@NASA website.

This is a poster detailing the Sun and its impacts on the Earth. Learners will be introduced to space weather, solar storms, aurorae, and the spacecraft that study the Sun and its impacts.

This is a lesson about density. Learners will relate the concept of density to the density of dust in space. They will use mission data from the Student Dust Counter (SDC) interface to determine the density of dust grains in a volume of space in the Solar System in order to answer questions concerning the distribution of dust in the solar system. They will discover that space is much more sparsely populated with dust than they may have thought. Students discuss their findings with the class.

This is a lesson about using light to identify the composition of an object. Learners will use a spectrograph to gather data about light sources. Using the data they‰Ûªve collected, students are able to make comparisons between different light sources and make conjectures about the composition of a mystery light source. The activity is part of Project Spectra, a science and engineering program for middle-high school students, focusing on how light is used to explore the Solar System.

This is an activity about using spectrogram plots as an indicator of magnetic activity on Earth. Learners will analyze spectrogram data and compare it to local Kp indices in an attempt to determine global magnetic storminess. This activity uses real data from the THEMIS (Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms) Magnetometer, and requires a computer with Internet access. This is activity 20 in the Exploring Magnetism: Earth's Magnetic Personality teachers guide.

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 ‰ÛÏSnorkzat‰Û� has an atmosphere. The activity is part of Project Spectra, a science and engineering program for middle-high school students, focusing on how light is used to explore the Solar System.

This is an activity about star movement due to the Earth's rotation. Learners will utilize the Sky Tonight online program to find the star that appears stationary in our night sky. They will then draw conclusions about the Earth‰Ûªs rotation based on the position changes of certain stars. This activity requires the use of a computer with Internet access. This activity is Sky Tonight Activity 2 in a larger resource, Space Update.

This is a lesson about the motion of a coronal mass ejection, also called a CME. Learners will calculate the velocity and acceleration of a CME based on its position in a series of images from the Large-Angle Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO) instrument on SOHO.

This activity is about the use of remote sensing in planetary exploration. Learners will find out how human curiosity in planetary exploration results in science questions, engineering solutions, and teamwork. This activity demonstrates how planetary features are discovered by the use of remote-sensing techniques. Students will experience the different phases in planetary exploration, including telescope observations, fly by missions, orbiters, landers, rovers, and their own ideas about human exploration. The lesson models scientific inquiry using the 5E instructional model and includes teacher notes, prerequisite concepts and vocabulary.

In this activity students add and subtract log distances on their Log Tapes to discover that the corresponding numbers multiply and divide. This will lead them to an experiential understanding of the laws of logarithms.åÊThis is activity B2 in the "Far Out Math" educator's guide. Lessons in the guide include activities in which students measure,compare quantities as orders of magnitude, become familiar with scientific notation, and develop an understanding of exponents and logarithms using examples from NASA's GLAST mission. These are skills needed to understand the very large and very small quantities characteristic of astronomical observations. Note: In 2008, GLAST was renamed Fermi, for the physicist Enrico Fermi.

This is an activity about the Kp index, a quantification of fluctuations in the Earth's magnetic field due to the relative strength of a magnetic storm. Learners will take a reading from a magnetometer site and make a Kp index estimate to predict whether or not an aurora display will occur near that site. This resource is designed to support student analysis of THEMIS (Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms) Magnetometer line-plot data. This activity requires the use of a computer with Internet access. This is activity 18 in Exploring Magnetism: Earth‰Ûªs Magnetic Personality.