These guides showcase education and public outreach resources from across more than 20 NASA astrophysics missions and programs. The twelve guides - one for each month - contain a science topic, an interpretive story, a sky object to view with finding charts, hands-on activities, and connections to NASA science. The guides are modular, so that educators can use the portions that are the most useful for their audiences/events. Following is the theme for each month: January - Betelgeuse, February - Orion Nebula, March - Pleiades, April - Pollux; May - Hubble Deep Field, June - Hercules Cluster, July - Ring Nebula & Veil Nebula, August - The Search for Habitable Worlds, September - Milky Way Galaxy, October - Upsilon Andromedae, November - Andromeda Galaxy, and December - Crab Nebula.

In this activity, students build a simple computer model to determine the black body surface temperature of planets in our solar system: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. Experiments altering the luminosity and distance to the light source will allow students to determine the energy reaching the object and its black body temperature. The activity builds on student outcomes from activity A, "Finding a Mathematical Description of a Physical Relationship." It also supports inquiry into a real-world problem, the effect of urban heat islands and deforestation on climate. Includes a teacher's guide, student worksheets, and an Excel tutorial. This is Activity B of module 3, titled "Using Mathematic Models to Investigate Planetary Habitability," of the resource, Earth Climate Course: What Determines a Planet's Climate? The course aims to help students to develop an understanding of our environment as a system of human and natural processes that result in changes that occur over various space and time scales.

Students explore how mathematical descriptions of the physical environment can be fine-tuned through testing using data. In this activity, student teams obtain satellite data measuring the Earth's albedo, and then input this data into a spreadsheet-based radiation balance model, GEEBITT. They validate their results against published the published albedo value of the Earth, and conduct similar comparisons Mercury, Venus and Mars. The resource includes an Excel spreadsheet tutorial, an investigation, student data sheets and a teacher's guide. Students apply their understanding to the real life problem of urban heat islands and deforestation. The activity links builds on student outcomes from activities A and B: "Finding a Mathematical Description of a Physical Relationship," and "Making a Simple Mathematical Model." This is Activity C in module 3, Using Mathematical Models to Investigate Planetary Habitability, of the resource, Earth Climate Course: What Determines a Planet's Climate? The course aims to help students to develop an understanding of our environment as a system of human and natural processes that result in changes that occur over various space and time scales.

This is a lesson about elemental spectra. Learners will compare known elemental spectra with spectra of Titan and Saturn‰Ûªs rings from a spectrometer aboard the NASA Cassini spacecraft. They identify the elements visible in the planetary and lunar spectra. 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 the phases of Venus and the planet‰Ûªs variance in angular size as seen from Earth. Learners will use an online program such as Solar System Live to determine Venus‰Ûªs distance from Earth for one half of its cycle. This activity requires access to the Solar System Update software and a computer with Internet access. This is Solar System Activity 6 in a larger resource, Space Update.

This webpage is part of NASA's Visible Earth, a searchable directory of images, visualizations, and animations of Earth. It features remotely sensed imagery of volcanic eruptions that display smoke plumes, lava flows, fires, and other eruptive features. Each image is accompanied by a caption describing the subject being illustrated and the satellite or instrument which captured the image. Files are in either TIFF, GIF, or JPEG formats.

EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCE
Do you have what it takes to be a Waste Avenger? This game will teach you how organic, plastic and paper waste can be recycled or composted as you try your hand at being an environmental superhero.

ABOUT THE SCIENCE
Reuse. Reduce. Recycle. These are now everyday household words for us all and every little bit we do, helps our environment. Every year, countries around the world are increasing the amount they recycle and even one person can decrease the waste footprint by reusing, reducing and recycling.
Nature, unlike humans, produces waste that is biodegradable. That is, the waste product has the ability to naturally break down. Biodegradation is nature’s way of recycling waste, and is often carried out by bacteria and microorganisms. Compost is a good example.
Unfortunately, humans produce waste at a much faster rate than what natural biodegradation can keep up with. As a result, landfills fill up quickly, and pollution of the air, water and soil can occur. On top of that, humans produce a significant amount of non biodegradable waste that continues to add to the waste problem.
Reduce, reuse and recycle are three great ways you can protect your environment and help control waste. The whole idea is to reduce the production of non-biodegradable materials, reuse the existing products and recycle products once they have served their purpose.
If your school does not yet recycle, set up a school program to recycle everyday items that would otherwise go into the trash. Paper, cardboard and even plastics are simple to sort out and a great place to start. Every little bit helps, so do your part in waste management because it is important for the health of the ecosystem.

This is a series of seven brief activities about Jupiter's atmosphere and weather. Learners will look at Jupiter's distinct banded appearance, violent storms, and clouds of many different colors. The activities are part of Explore! Jupiter's Family Secrets, a series designed to engage children in space and planetary science in libraries and informal learning environments.

This is an activity about visual analysis. Learners will compare and contrast images of Earth and Mars and then experiment with lenses to understand more about the instruments used to make the pictures. This is activity 1 of 9 in Mars and Earth: Science Learning Activities for After School.

This is an activity about light. Learners will make their own spectroscopes from easily obtainable materials and use prisms to observe different types of white light sources to see the colors that form the visible light spectrum. This is Activity 2 of the Sun As a Star afterschool curriculum.

This is a lesson about Saturn. Learners will reflect on what they have learned by drawing everything they picture when they hear the words Saturn and Cassini, and add labels and captions to their drawing. Students look back at their first exercise (lesson 1) and compare the two. They end the lesson by sharing their work with a partner. This is lesson 10 of 12 in the Mission to Saturn Educators Guide, Reading Writing Rings, for grades 3-4.

This is a lesson about the Cassini mission to Saturn. Learners will create their Saturn Discovery Logs. They will use the Saturn Discovery Log to chronicle their journey of discovery about Saturn and Cassini through nonfiction writing. For their first log entry, students will draw what they picture when they hear the words "Saturn" and "Cassini," and add labels and captions to their drawings. Students will share their work with partners. This is lesson 1 of 12 in "Reading, Writing & Rings!" for grades 3-4.

This is an activity about what individuals already know about the Sun. Learners will brainstorm and share with the group their prior knowledge about the Sun. This is Activity 1 of the Sun As a Star afterschool curriculum.

This is a lesson about Saturn. Learners will draw and write to express their knowledge of Saturn. This is lesson 1 of 10 in "Reading, Writing & Rings!" for grades 1-2.

This is an activity about modeling and the scientific process. Learners will discuss the models they created in the previous three activities as models of forces that shape the surface of planets, and talk about the similarities and differences between models and real events. Then they brainstorm a list of questions and suggest ways scientists might find answers. This is activity 7 of 9 in Mars and Earth: Science Learning Activities for After School.

In this introductory lesson, students will learn the basics of the aurora through small group discussions, reflection and reading. The lesson includes teacher notes and instructions, student workshops and an online, animated story, and related teacher resources on aurora. This is lesson one of a collection of five activities that can be used individually or as a sequence; concludes with a KWL (Know/Want-to-know/Learned) assessment activity.

Geographic information systems (GIS) are important technology that allows rapid study and use of spatial information. GIS have become increasingly prevalent in industry and the consumer/internet world in the last 20 years. Historically, the basis of GIS was in mapping, and so it is important to understand the basis of maps and how to use them as well as why they are different from GIS. In this lesson, students learn the value of maps, how to use maps, and the basic components of a GIS. They are also introduced to numerous GIS applications.

This is an activity about shadows and how the Sun's location affects the direction of a shadow. Learners will first identify what they already know about shadows and will be asked to share any questions they may have. Then students will be taken outside to observe and trace a classmates shadow. From this tracing, students will complete a worksheet by drawing their partner, his or her shadow, and the location of the Sun. Two to three hours later, this observation and tracing process will be repeated, allowing students to witness the movement of shadows as a result of the Earth's rotation. This activity requires a sunny day with plenty of outdoor space to trace the shadows of all students. This is Activity 4 of a larger resource entitled Eye on the Sky.

This is a lesson about characteristics necessary for life. Learners will identify the top candidates for life in the solar system by examining Habitability Cards, which discuss each planet and the six large moons in terms of water temperature, atmosphere, energy, and nutrients. A math extension is provided on the Inverse Square Law. Includes background reading for teachers, student activity guide, reflection questions, and blackline masters. This is activity 3 of 5 in the educators guide, Astrobiology in your Classroom: Life on Earth..and Elsewhere?

This is an activity about the shape of the Earth‰Ûªs orbit. Learners will first use elements of the orbit of Earth and Pluto and an apparatus using string, a pencil, and pushpins to accurately draw an ellipse, showing the nearly circular shape of the orbits of Earth and Pluto. They then measure real images of the Sun in each season, determining the apparent size of the Sun to see if it changes throughout the year. By determining the apparent size of each Sun image and by seeing the shape of Earth's orbit, learners will confront the misconception that seasons are caused by changing distance of the Earth from the Sun. Finally, learners reflect on the results of the Sun-Earth Survey, which is Activity 2 in this set. This is Activity 4 in the Great Explorations in Math and Science (GEMS) guide titled Real Reasons for Seasons: Sun-Earth Connections. The resource guide is available for purchase from the Lawrence Hall of Science. This activity recommends use of an overhead projector.