Space Shuttle - free detailed panoramic images of Discovery available from NatGeo

The NASA Space Shuttle is retired and the fleet is being sent to museums for display. National Geographic is releasing some very cool, detailed, panoramic images of Discovery.  You can see a few of them below. These are a great way to explore the space shuttles and learn more about them.

To provide an unprecedented look at Discovery and the other retired space shuttles, both inside and out, photographers with National Geographic recently captured more than two dozen ultrahigh-resolution, 360-degree pictures of each orbiter.

See 360-degree HD panorama: space shuttle mid-deck >>

See 360-degree HD panorama: space shuttle's belly >>

Related:

NASA Resources for Educators

National Geographic Resources for Educators 

NASA Rockets Educator Guide - updated and free - great resource

NASA is an excellent resource for educators with sites, lesson resources, and more available.

One of the resources I really like, and use each year, is the Rockets Educator Guide. NASA has recently updated it with some new information and materials. It's available as a free PDF download here.

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The NASA - The Rockets Educator Guide includes lesson plans and activity ideas. This guide has some great activities like rockets using film canisters, baking soda, and vinegar, paper rockets, altitude trackers and more. There is even a part on the history of rockets.

I use this at the end of the year in a project on Rockets, combining topics from throughout the year in a fun project.

Here's more on the project: http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2011/05/rockets-great-project-for-end-of-year.html


More NASA Resources:

Quickly find free NASA educational resources
Here are a lot more great, free Educational Resources from NASA

Free Aerospace Simulation App - made by educator

Stephen Hall, and educator and aerospace enthusiast, participated in NASA's Aerospace Professional Development program and then created Aeroplans, a free Android app. The app includes aerospace simulations and instructions for different activities, along with links and information about aerospace topics.

I've been using it for a day or so and it's a fun app and educational.

Get Aeroplans from the Android Market.


Related:

NASA Simulation based Aerospace Resources for Educators

More great educational resources from NASA

STEM Resources for Educators and Students

Android - Apps, Resources, and more for education

NASA Simulation based Aerospace Resources for Educators

NASA's Simulation Based Aerospace Engineering Teacher Professional Development Program is a program geared towards helping educators become skilled in teaching engineering concepts. The program includes education materials, teacher internships, and industry and higher education partnerships. The program offers US STEM teachers the opportunity to work beside NASA engineers and mentors. It is focused on aeronautics modeling and simulation and teachers explore cutting-edge technology, aerospace engineering concepts, and develop hands-on lessons.

The site has lessons from previous sessions that teachers can download and use. The lessons include the simulation and lesson plan. The resource section has downloads, information on simulations, more lesson examples, and other STEM resources and links.


Related:

More great educational resources from NASA

STEM Resources for Educators and Students

NASA Aspire to Inspire - women encouraging girls to enter STEM careers

NASA, a source of great resources for educators, has another great site. Aspire 2 Inspire is a part of the Women at NASA site and includes resources to help encourage girls to get interested in STEM careers. There are videos and stories about women in different science, engineering and technology careers and career information for students. Videos include real women NASA scientists and engineers. Students can also interact with these women via Twitter.

This is a great way for girls to find out more about STEM careers from women in those careers.

Related:

More great educational resources from NASA

STEM Resources for Educators and Students

NASA JPL Virtual Field Trip

NASA, one of my favorite sources for great, free, quality science resources, has a Virtual Field Trip of their Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL).

The student picks an avatar, and then Curtis, the virtual tour guide, shows the student around the JPL, explaining what the mission is and what they do. There are links to NASA mission web sites and much more.

It's a fun, creative way to learn more about NASA, the JPL, and science.



Related:

NASA Jet Propulsion Lab Education Resources

Here are a lot more great, free Educational Resources from NASA

Quickly find free NASA educational resources

NASA Educational Standards Quilts are a quick and easy way to find free NASA educational resources that align to National Math and Science Standards.

The materials are available online for download and print, or you can order copies.

The site starts with a menu of 5 quilts: Space Science, Mathematics, California Science, Girl Scouts, and More Education Resources. They are available online, text version, and an Excel version. The online version is easier to use and interactive. The text and Excel versions have the resource links in each box.

You click on the quilt you are interested in. The online versions take you to another page where you select the grade level (K-4, 5-8, 9-12), area (Science: Science as Inquiry, Technology Connections, Personal/Social Connections, Nature & History of Science, Unifying Concepts and Processes). The grid then has different concepts across the top. In science they have forces, motion, sky, solar system, etc.

The light blue boxes have resources. Click on the box and the resources show on the bottom left of the screen, with a summary of the resource on the right.

In less than 5 minutes I was able to find 22 resources for one lesson for my physics class. It's a great resource for any Science or Math teacher.

Here are a lot more great, free Educational Resources from NASA

NASA Spinoff - magazine showcasing NASA technology used everyday

NASA Spinoff is a magazine that I've been subscribed to since college (WPI '92). The magazine showcases how technology NASA developed for aerospace programs have been "spunoff" to other industries, including consumer products.

The 2011 edition is now available and discusses 44 different technologies that NASA developed for their programs and how they are now implemented in medical, consumer, industrial and military products. Firefighting systems, medical monitors, software, and much more.

You can get it in print, CD-ROM or on the website. http://www.sti.nasa.gov/tto/Spinoff2011/index.html

This is a great way to show students how inventions and technologies can be used in more than one way. A project idea may be to have students take a technology and see how they could apply it to another field or area.

NASA Spinoff: http://www.sti.nasa.gov/tto/ 



Related: 


NASA at Home and City - Space developments related to life on earth

NASA views dark side of the moon - students to be able to study soon

NASA's Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) program (Ebb and Flow), which is creating a high resolution map of the moon's gravitational field, has also captured footage from the dark side of the moon as part of the MoonKAM (Moon Knowledge Acquired by Middle school students) program. MoonKAM will allow US students to study different parts of the lunar surface using imagery from the Ebb and Flow satellites.

Schools that signed up to participate in MoonKAM will get access starting in March. There are plans to open it up to more schools in the future also.

This is another great resource from NASA that schools can use to engage and educate students in science.

You can view a video at the source link below.

Source: NASA Grail News Release

Related:

NASA Resources on Ed Tech Guy

STEM Resources for Educators

NASA Space Science Education Resource Directory - lots of great stuff

The NASA Space Science Education Resource Directory is a one-stop-shopping site to find NASA space science resources for education. You can search by grade/subject, topic, or do a custom search by keyword.

The searches bring you to a listing of NASA resources including web links, downloadable materials and more.

This is a great way to easily find some of the excellent resources that NASA has for education.


Other resources from NASA for Education

NASA Eyes on the Earth - vital signs of the planet

NASA has another great resource for educators: NASA Eyes on the Earth. This site allows you to visualize actual satellite imagery and data in relation to the climate of the Earth. You can view data for air temperature, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide levels, sea levels, ozone, ice and water. You can explore and follow NASA satellites and see how they collect data about the Earth's atmosphere, land and sea. There are also some great images to view.

It launches in a separate window and can be viewed full screen. The 3D graphics are amazing and it follows the satellites in real time.

This is a resource that would be great for any science class, especially environmental science and Earth science.

NASA 3D Resources - fun and educational

NASA is a great resource for educators with literally hundreds of sites and resources available for free. Another one I just found is NASA 3D Resources. The 3D resources page has 3D models, textures, and images from inside NASA. All of these resources are free to download and use.

The 3D models can be used in almost any 3D software package and include the ISS, satellites, spacesuits and more. This could be a great resource for STEM classes, especially design, CAD, and engineering.

The images and textures are in .jpg and .tif formats in the original resolution. They include images of the moon, planets, and even a control panel from a space craft.

Voyager Image of Jupiter

There are also some cool simulations that would be great for use in education.


NetworKing is a game that allows you to take on the role of Network Manager and puts you in charge of building up a communications network that you will use to support scientific missions.



Station SpaceWalk is a simulation of doing a space walk to conduct repairs on the International Space Station.



There is an interactive demo of the Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) system that shows how it provides communication services for NASA missions.


All of these are great educational experiences for students. Students learn about STEM subjects, get to think critically and solve real world problems.

NASA Jet Propulsion Lab Education Resources

NASA has some incredible resources for educators. Here's another one.

The famous Jet Propulsion Laboratory has a great education site that has a lot of great resources. There are resources for students and educators on topics such as Discovery Guides about the planets and NASA Missions, classroom activities, videos, multimedia resources, and much more. There are after-school activities, teacher professional development, and in-depth projects to use.

JPL also has internships for students, which are a great opportunity for students to get some great learning and experience.

The site is easy to navigate and the resources are excellent. They can be used in any classroom.

NASA - Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle site

NASA, which already has tons of great resources for education, has a great site about the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew vehicle. The Orion MPCV is the future for American manned space flight. It will be the exploration vehicle that will carry astronauts to space and then return them.



The site has information on the MPCV, information on the design, construction and engineering of it, and cut away views of the space craft.

This is a great way to get students excited and interested about STEM subjects and talk to them about the future of manned spaceflight.

Related:

NASA Education Resources

NASA Debunks 2012 Apocalypse With New FAQ

Welcome to 2012 everyone! Most people have heard that because the Mayan calendar "ends" this year, the world will end also. It's been a huge story that has spawned movies and TV shows, but it's a big misunderstanding.

NASA has a new FAQ site that debunks the whole 2012 apocalypse myth with real science. It talks about the realities of the Mayan calendar and how there is absolutely no scientific evidence or reasons that the world will end this year.

It is a great read and something that teachers can use to show their students how little things get misinterpreted and blown out of proportion and show how science is important.

I also love the cartoon below.

A look inside the Space Shuttle Atlantis - very cool!

CollectSPACE has some very cool pictures of the Space Shuttle Atlantis available. These pictures are very interesting and can be used when doing a lesson on space, engineering, or science. Spaceflight is a great way to get students excited about STEM subjects.

Space Shuttle Atlantis flew the final shuttle mission for NASA. It will be displayed for the public at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The pictures of the inside are amazing!

1000th blog post! NASA Clickable Spacesuit

My 1000th blog post! Thanks to my readers and supporters, especially my wife, who have encouraged me along the way! It's been a great experience and I look forward to another 1000 posts.

NASA has tons of resources for education and educators and I use a lot of them with my students. One that I think is fun and educational is the Clickable Space Suit.

There is one part of the site that explains all the parts of a space suit and their functions and the other part is a clickable image of a space suit. As you click each part, you get more information about that part.

What's cool for me and my students is that many parts of the space suits are made here in Connecticut.

Virtual Tour of NASA Goddard Space Center and Missions

NASA has some great resources for educators and students and this is another great one.

NASA's Goddard Space Center is in Maryland and they design, manage, and control a variety of experiments and space missions. I got to visit it and get a tour in my senior year of college when I presented my senior theses. NASA had funded it. It was a great experience with some really interesting things to see and learn about.

They have a great Virtual Tour of Goddard set up that goes through the entire life cycle of a mission from idea, to design, to construction, to testing, to launch to operations and finally the analysis of the data collected.

This is a great way to get students excited and interested in STEM subjects as well as introducing them to the engineering design process and science experiment process.



I've covered a lot of NASA Resources. Click on this link and you'll be taken to all of the articles about NASA.

Some of my favorite NASA resources:

NASA at Home and City - Space developments related to life on earth

NASA Rocketry Site - great resources for all classes

NASA - Solar System Exploration

NASA Aerodynamics resources - good for all classes!

NASA Mission Science - another awesome resource for educators from NASA

NASA Mission: Science is another awesome resource for educators from NASA. Mission: Science is provided by NASA to engage students in NASA Science and showcase educational resources from NASA and its partners.

It is a great place to start when looking for science resources from NASA. There are links to what NASA is studying, science careers, games, animations, videos and much more.

It is one more excellent resource from educators from NASA that I use and recommend.

NASA Sounds - sound clips for school, computer, or ringtone

NASA Sounds is another great resource from NASA. It is a collection of sounds from spaceflights and missions, including the sounds of a shuttle launch and memorable words such as "Houston, we've had a problem" and "One small step for (a) man...).

The files are in both MP3 and M4R (iPhone) formats for download.

This could be a fun way to use these sound clips in your classroom as a way to get students interested in the topics. I like NASA's idea of using "Houston, we've had a problem" as an error message on your computer.

It's fun and educational.