Included here are links to each activity training and content training video for the Explore Science: Earth & Space toolkit (2018 and 2017 kits), as well as a link to the entire Explore Science: Earth & Space toolkit video album.
This presentation discusses NASA's past lunar missions, and what future plans it may have for the Moon. A pdf file with presentation notes and credits is included.
This video gives a brief overview of the six successful Apollo moon landing missions, and the lunar landing sites chosen for each. (Downloadable video coming soon)
Breakfast Moon is a picture book for young readers. In a simple story, the book talks about when we can see the Moon, what it looks like, and how it changes over the course of a month. Included with a...
These vintage-style travel posters were produced by NASA to spur the imagination about newly discovered exoplanets (planets beyond our solar system). These large pdf files are printable for your Earth and Space event.
This activity encourages visitors to build an electroscope —a simplified version of one of the tools scientists use to study the invisible forces on Earth and in space. Participants will learn how static electricity works, how scientists can use it...
Space Guess Quest is a fun game that encourages participants to identify the many types of objects in space, from human-made spacecraft to nebulas, galaxies, stars, and worlds. Players ask yes-or-no questions about their opponents' secret object until they can...
This activity includes a hands-on model of the way the universe is expanding—and how it has been expanding since the Big Bang. As participants pull at the edges of a stretchy model universe, they see that the space between objects...
This activity lets participants safely view the Sun and study features on its face. A solarscope projects an image of the Sun on a flat surface, where visitors can trace its outline and mark any sunspots on a sheet of...
This activity models the way Landsat satellites use a thermal infrared sensor to measure land surface temperatures. IR technology, like the IR thermometer in this activity, uses the infrared light emitted by an object to measure its temperature remotely (without...
This activity models some of the ways natural processes, such as erosion and sediment pollution, affect Earth’s landscape. Data collected from satellites, such as the joint NASA/USGS Landsat satellites, help improve our understanding of Earth’s land cover. Orbiting Earth, these...
Sun, Earth, Universe exhibition is an engaging and interactive museum exhibition about Earth and space science for family audiences. The Sun, Earth, Universe exhibition is intended for long-term display in museums across the United States, where it will engage millions...
Space telescopes can offer us better, clearer views of the universe (and of our own planet) than Earth-based telescopes can, but getting these large, delicate pieces of equipment into orbit is tricky. In "Exploring the Universe: Pack a Space Telescope,"...
"Exploring the Universe: Objects in Motion" encourages participants to explore the complex but predictable ways objects in the universe interact with each other. Stars, planets, moons, and other objects in space orbit around each other because of gravity, and NASA...
"Exploring the Universe: Filtered Light" demonstrates how scientists can use telescopes and other tools to capture and filter different energies of light to study the universe. Most objects in the universe are so distant from us that we can only...
In "Exploring the Universe: Exoplanet Transits," participants simulate one of the methods scientists use to discover planets orbiting distant stars. Even when a planet is too far away to observe directly, scientists can infer its presence by watching for slight,...
In "Exploring the Solar System: Stomp Rockets," participants learn about how some rockets carry science tools—not scientists—into space, and how a special kind of rocket called "sounding rockets" can be used for quick, low-flying scientific missions into space. Participants will...
In "Exploring the Solar System: Mars Rovers," participants learn about how scientists and engineers use robotic rovers and other vehicles to explore distant worlds, and experience some of the challenges and teamwork required to navigate a rover across the surface...
The "Exploring the Solar System: Magnetic Fields" activity shows participants how scientists can use tools to study the invisible magnetic fields of Earth, the Sun, and other objects in the universe. Participants can see how the Sun's magnetic field extends...
"Exploring the Solar System: Hide and Seek Moon" is an engaging way for early childhood learners to experiment with some of the tools scientists use to study objects that are very, very far away, and to learn about how cultures...
"Exploring the Solar System: Craters" is an active, hands-on activity that demonstrates how craters form, and what they can teach us about the history and composition of planets and moons. By dropping objects of various sizes and shapes into a...
"Exploring Earth: Paper Mountains" lets participants explore the way the shape of the land and the pull of gravity influence how water moves over Earth. By making unique mountain models from crumpled paper and watching how water moves across them,...
It can be challenging to know what ideas and experiences learners already have when they visit an informal education venue. What facilitation approaches will help them build productive and deep conceptual learning about Earth and space science? When educators anticipate...
This online presentation and discussion covered the science behind three of the 2017 Explore Science: Earth & Space toolkit activities - Rising Seas, Investigating Clouds, and Orbiting Objects. After a brief overview of each activity and associated materials, Laura Peticolas,...
This online presentation and discussion covered the science behind three of the 2017 Explore Science: Earth and Space toolkit activities - Ice Orbs, Imagining Life, and Pocket Solar System. After a brief overview of each activity and associated materials, Katherine...