This guide accompanies an educational wallsheet that uses active galaxies as an engagement to teach selected topics in physical science and mathematics from the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope Web site. Active galaxies have super-massive black holes in their cores, some of which emit jets of particles and light. It features three curriculum enhancement activities, background information, assessment information, student worksheets, extension and transfer activities, and detailed information about the physical science and mathematics content standards that are supported.

This large pop-up book with foldouts contains a 3D model of an active galaxy with jets that pops up out of the center. Active galaxies, a major scientific target for the GLAST mission (renamed Fermi in 2008),contain super-massive black holes at their cores, and sometimes emit jets of particles and light. One foldout contains explanatory information for the parts of the galaxy depicted in the central pop-up, as well as a glossary, while the other contains a classroom activity, the "Tasty Active Galaxy." The back of the book features a cartoon story: "How the Galaxy Got Its Jets."

This lithograph contains a Hubble Space Telescope image that shows the colorful Planetary Nebula NGC 2440 with one of the hottest known white dwarfs at its center. The text briefly explains the process of stellar death of sun-like stars and those with a mass greater than eight times the Sun. The accompanying classroom activity is a curriculum support tool designed for use as an introductory inquiry activity. It can be incorporated into a unit that has a scientific inquiry and/or stellar evolution theme. During the classroom activity, In Search of... Stellar Death, students use the lithograph images and text to generate questions about the planetary nebula NGC 2440 and how stars end their lives. Students conduct research to answer their questions then compare the endpoints of different mass stars, providing supporting evidence from their research.

This article encourages students to find Amazing Space resources related to the International Year of Astronomy (IYA) Object of the Month. The Star Witness News articles are science content readings for upper elementary to middle school students. Current Hubble science content is presented at a grade-appropriate level and includes definitions of unfamiliar terms and a set of discussion questions with answers. The articles are based on Hubble press releases, which are identified for the educator in the overview pages and are chosen based on their timeliness and alignment with national science education standards. Many of the articles are formatted as PDF files for easy printing and use in classrooms without computer access.

This article describes the impact of the Hubble Space Telescope during the past 20 years, its many servicing missions, the public’s favorite images, the top science findings, and the man for whom the telescope is named. The Star Witness News articles are science content readings for upper elementary to middle school students. Current Hubble science content is presented at a grade-appropriate level and includes definitions of unfamiliar terms and a set of discussion questions with answers. The articles are based on Hubble press releases, which are identified for the educator in the overview pages and are chosen based on their timeliness and alignment with national science education standards. Many of the articles are formatted as PDF files for easy printing and use in classrooms without computers.

This article highlights the schools’ and student work selected as the best collages in an interdisciplinary Classroom Collage Activity sponsored by the Office of Public Outreach at the Space Telescope Science Institute. An image showing the SM4 astronauts with the winning collages is included. The Star Witness News articles are science content readings for upper elementary to middle school students. Current Hubble science content is presented at a grade-appropriate level and includes definitions of unfamiliar terms and a set of discussion questions with answers. The articles are based on Hubble press releases, which are identified for the educator in the overview pages and are chosen based on their timeliness and alignment with national science education standards. Many of the articles are formatted as PDF files for easy printing and use in classrooms without computer access. Recent additions to the web site include three articles.

This article features the Early Release Observations following SM4. The Star Witness News articles are science content readings for upper elementary to middle school students. Current Hubble science content is presented at a grade-appropriate level and includes definitions of unfamiliar terms and a set of discussion questions with answers. The articles are based on Hubble press releases, which are identified for the educator in the overview pages and are chosen based on their timeliness and alignment with national science education standards. Many of the articles are formatted as PDF files for easy printing and use in classrooms without computer access.

This DVD combines the latest scientific and educational research to help teachers in grades 8-12 deepen their own and their students’ understanding of our universe and of the nature of science. Produced by the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in association with NASA, Beyond the Solar System is filled with video, print, and online resources. It is designed for Earth and space science educators, physical science educators, professional development providers, and classroom use. The National Science Education Standards includes the topic of origin and evolution of the universe as part of the essential content of Earth and space science understanding. Yet providing concrete, inquiry-based experiences for students to learn these concepts can be a challenge for teachers. Beyond the Solar System contains more than two hours of video, organized into two modular strands of material -- science content, and teaching and learning resources. These are intended to promote greater understanding of the scientific concepts through discussion and reflection, activities, and application of the ideas to teaching. Also included are lesson plans, student guides, assessments, content background, summaries of relevant standards, and links to further resources. These instructional materials are provided in PDF format and can be printed from a computer.

This film was taken by astronauts from five Space Shuttle missions with the IMAX camera, illustrating forces affecting Earth's ecological balance: volcanoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, and, ultimately, humankind. Experiments discussed in the videotape focus on infrared detection of atmospheric remnants from volcanic eruptions, ozone concentration levels, and incoming solar ultraviolet radiation with respect to global warming, among others. Length: 42:00.

This curriculum includes ten missions and three exploration extensions that provide activities for up to a semester and focus largely on the space exploration theme. It is designed to engage students in hands-on inquiry based learning. It addresses science and technology standards, and specifically focuses on math content and process standards. Although other models will work, the curriculum is geared towards using a Texas Instruments (IT) 83 or 84 series graphing calculator with a Norland research calculator robot. The curriculum can be used in math, science, technology, or after school classes. Students create programs in TI-BASIC to run their robots. Missions are sequentially built on the knowledge of previous activities. Step-by-step programming instructions are provided in the first missions, gradually leading students to create their own programs in later missions. Students use and apply math and science concepts to direct their robots through a variety of challenges. In addition to the detailed activities, teachers are given opportunities to draw on their students’ hands-on experience to reach a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts. Several open-ended questions and extension activities are included to encourage potential scientists, engineers, mathematicians, and computer programmers to explore their fields.

This is the third in a series of four ChemMatters issues devoted to NASA’s Earth Observing System (EOS) Aura mission and it focuses on the chemistry of the mission. ChemMatters is designed and published for teachers to use as a supplement to their first year high school chemistry course, and as a resource for other high school science teachers. Article titles are: Whose Air Is It Anyway (global circulation of the atmosphere), Alien Atmospheres (atmospheres of other planets), Clouds (how clouds form, and cloud research), Life in a Greenhouse (how the greenhouse effect works and how people study it), Chemistry in the Sunlight (about formation of the ozone we breathe), Beefing Up Atmospheric Models (how modeling helps us understand the atmosphere), and Nobel Prize Winner: Sherwood Rowland (interview). The issue also includes a challenge asking students to determine which activities on a list would be possible on a planet with no atmosphere; and an activity, Cloud in a Bottle. A 62-page teacher's guide accompanies the issue and provides additional information on articles, follow-up hands-on activities, classroom demonstrations, and additional resources.

This EOS-Aura special edition of ChemMatters is the first of four special issues focusing on atmospheric chemistry and the Aura mission. It features articles on global climate change, asthma and air pollution, good and bad ozone, and spectroscopy. ChemMatters is a quarterly publication of the American Chemical Society (ACS) geared to a high school audience. The magazine is designed and written to demystify everyday chemistry.

: This ChemMAtters issue features the human side of NASA’s Aura mission with five articles that include interviews with Aura scientists and engineers. ChemMatters is a quarterly publication of the American Chemical Society (ACS) geared to a high school audience. The magazine is designed and written to demystify everyday chemistry. This special edition is the second of four special issues that focussed on atmospheric chemistry and the Aura mission. Each story features one member of the Aura team and their role in the mission as well as their interests outside of science and engineering. The pull-out poster in the center of the magazine includes stories from the countdown by technicians and engineers building the spacecraft and it's instruments. A teacher's guide is also available for this issue.

This special edition of ChemMatters is the fourth in a series focused on atmospheric chemistry and NASA’s Aura mission. ChemMatters is a quarterly publication of the American Chemical Society (ACS) geared to a high school audience and designed to demystify everyday chemistry. It includes feature articles on how Aura came together as a mission from its beginnings to the present; the nature of chemical equilibrium, with applications to ozone in the stratosphere; a day in the life of a science validation team on a WB 57 aircraft; and the challenges of fabricating an international treaty to deal with ozone pollution. The back cover introduces an ozone biomonitoring garden project that has been developed as a field classroom learning resource for students at Great Smoky Mountains National Park through a partnership among several federal organizations.

The Toolkit profiles climate stewards in all 11 ecoregions of the U.S. It is designed for classroom teachers and informal educators in parks, refuges, forest lands, nature centers, zoos, aquariums, science centers, etc., and is aimed at the middle school grade level. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in partnership with six other federal agencies (National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, USDA/Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management), developed the kit to aid educators in teaching how climate change is affecting our nation’s wildlife and public lands, and how everyone can become “climate stewards.”

This Hubble Space Telescope image reveals a small region inside the massive globular cluster Omega Centauri, which boasts nearly 10 million stars. This colorful assortment of 100,000 stars residing in the crowded core of the cluster is one of the first images taken by the new Wide Field Camera 3. The accompanying classroom activity In Search of … Stellar Evolution is a curriculum support tool designed for use as an introductory inquiry activity. During the classroom activity, students use the images and text on this lithograph to generate questions about star formation. They will conduct research to answer their questions. Students will create a presentation to demonstrate their understanding of the material, providing supporting evidence from their research.

Leonard Nimoy narrates this animated 13-minute video of NASA's Dawn mission, launched in October 2007. The movie features a look into the planning, instrumentation and technological challenges of this mission into the heart of the asteroid belt.

This book of 19 essays, written by Earth scientists, provides insight into the dynamic processes that shape the Earth. The essays are supported by case studies describing a range of research projects (including Looking for Life in Antarctica-and Mars, Mapping Mt. Rainer, and Mapping Hot Springs on the Deep Ocean Floor) and profiles of historically significant Earth scientists (Including Inge Lehmann, Milutin Milankovitch, and Harold C. Urey). The essays, case studies, and profiles are organized along the same themes explored in the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth, (How do we read the rocks?; How has the Earth evolved?; Why are there ocean basins, mountains and continents?; What causes climate and climate change?; Why is the Earth habitable?) a large, permanent exhibition that opened at the Museum in 1999.

This Web site includes over 50 individual Earth system science modules that faculty can select from to use in their courses or directly with their students. Online courses for school teachers are offered by colleges and universities across the United States as part of the NASA-NOAA-NSF-funded ESSEA Program (Earth System Science Education Alliance). The courses are structured as a collaborative experience and modeled so that teachers will learn to use science as inquiry from the student's perspective and then be able to model this teaching approach in their own classrooms. Specifically, teachers evolve their own knowledge about Earth system science and their skills in thinking systematically about specific events. Modules are on wide-ranging topics, with many on current environmental and climate-related topics, including: Gulf Oil Spill, Abrupt Climate Change, California Climate: Pacific Ocean Connection, Dust World, Hurricane Katrina, West Nile Virus, The Case of the Disappearing Salmon, Ice Core: Frozen Time Machine, The Camanchaca: Fog in the Earth System, The Great Ocean Conveyor Belt, and many more.

This textbook was published to: 1) raise awareness of changes in human health related to global ecosystem change; and 2) expand the scope of the traditional curriculum in environmental health to include the interactions of major environmental forces and public health on a global scale. The book covers such topics as global climate change, stratospheric ozone depletion, water resources management and ecology and infectious disease. Case studies of cholera, malaria, the effects of water resources and global climate change and air pollution illustrate the analysis and methodology. The book also includes a resource center describing places to start searches on the Web, guidelines for finding and evaluating information, suggested study projects and strategies for encouraging communication among course participants.