Useful NASA and Astronomy Websites for Teachers

MIR Space Station and the Moon

Anyone who has surfed the web in search of usable teaching material on space science immediately runs into a mountain of choices. This is not just another list! We've spent over a year looking at on-line resources and picked just a few based on the following criteria:

1. Ability to quickly and easily find material
2. Quality of the activities, lessons or products
3. Usefulness of the material
4. Relevance to national science standards

Please feel free to send us feedback!

http://ois.unomaha.edu/casde/index.html
The Nebraska Space Grant Consortium collaborated with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to produce 1,000 DataSlate CDs for distribution and use across the United States. DataSlate software allows users to easily navigate through large imagery data sets and to overlay and examine two data sets simultaneously. Users can move around the images, zoom into different levels, and use a variety of embedded measurement tools to examine features such as distance, angle, and the global positioning system (GPS).   For a free CD and teacher guide, contact Franci Addy at faddy@mail.unomaha.edu or call (402) 554-3839.

http://NASAexplores.com/cgi-bin/index.pl
"NASAexplores" provides free weekly K-12 educational articles and lesson plans on current NASA projects. Printable and downloadable, these supplemental curriculum resources meet national education standards.

http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/
From the Space Telescope Science Institute, "Amazing Space" is a set of web-based activities primarily designed for classroom use, but made available for all to enjoy.

http://spacelink.nasa.gov/Educator.Focus/
Educator Focus provides background information and other helpful tips related to using NASA educational products and services.

http://spacelink.nasa.gov/Instructional.Materials/Curriculum.Support/Careers/
Information on pursuing a career in Aerospace, Earth Science, Space Science, or Technology. Offers advice on which courses to take and what types of jobs are available in each field. Includes student activities, astronaut information, posters, distance learning opportunities, services available to teachers, and much more!

http://www.nasa.gov/home/index.html
NASA's home page with links to resources for educators and students.  Links are available to learning, internet and multimedia resources as well as to professional development for educators and opportunities for students.

http://teachspacescience.stsci.edu/cgi-bin/ssrtop.plex
The Space Science Education Resource Directory is a convenient way to find NASA space science products for use in classrooms, science museums, planetariums, and other settings.

http://www.windows.ucar.edu/
"Windows to the Universe" has astronomy lesson plans and activities appropriate for various grade levels, all of which specifically address appropriate science standards.

http://www.astrosociety.org/education/activities/astroacts.html
From the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, this resource includes a small selection of especially effective astronomy activities designed for K-12 classes and science projects. The focus is on hands-on activities, or at least contain elements to encourage independent thinking on the part of the students, and not merely follow a cookbook recipe or fill in a few blanks.

http://homepage.mac.com/astronomyteacher/
Astronomy links and resources, teacher training programs, on line courses, lesson plans and essays, teacher's message board, product reviews.

http://aer.noao.edu/
"Astronomy Education Review" is a new journal that makes it easy to find, read about, and use new ideas and resources for teaching and outreach in astronomy and space sciences.


Original list compiled May 2002 by:

Mike Murray, Assistant Director MSGC
Christina Scott, Astronomy Educator MSGC

For further information, contact:

Glenda Winslow, Program Coordinator
(406) 994-4223
email: winslow@physics.montana.edu

The Space Public Outreach Team (SPOT)

The Montana Space Grant Consortium also has a service for educators called the Space Public Outreach Team! A variety of programs on space, astronomy, and student research projects are available for free to Montana classrooms. For more information, see the SPOT webpage

Montana Space Grant Home

Updated July 1, 2005