February 8, 2007
WSGC Newsletter for Educators
The Washington NASA Space Grant Consortium's electronic newsletter for teachers provides curriculum ideas, Internet links and other resources to help you better meet the Washington EALRs and the National Science Education Standards.TABLE OF CONTENTS
-- DISCOVER DINO DAY
-- EXPLORATION: THEN AND NOW (5-8)
-- ON THIN ICE: INT'L POLAR YEAR
-- 181 THINGS TO DO ON THE MOON
-- TEACHING EARTH SCIENCE (K-12)
-- DIAMETERS OF PLANETS & STARS
-- ASTROBIOLOGY INSTITUTE FOR TEACHERS (9-12)
On February 10, experience a day at the Burke Museum filled with activities and awe-inspiring examples of dinosaurs and more. From 10 a.m.-4 p.m., museum paleontologists will share fascinating examples of fossils from the Burke's own collections including live demonstrations of a 40 million year old mammal jaw being "prepared" on site.
This year, the Burke teams up with the Pacific Science Center to present Dino Puzzles and Fossil Formations, where kids will explore the world of fossilization by checking out real fossils and creating their own play-dough fossil models, as well as activities that explore the criteria scientists use to define dinosaurs.
Information on the Science Center's upcoming Colossal Fossils dinosaur exhibit will also be available. For more information, go to
Humanity's long history of exploration dates back as far as 3200 B.C. "Exploration: Then and Now" focuses on the settlement of Jamestown, the first permanent English-speaking colony in the New World, and NASA's plans to return to the moon and reach for Mars.
Lesson plans address the following questions: What do explorers need to survive in a new world? How do vessel design, navigation and propulsion affect exploration? How do location, soil and weather affect settlement? How is water important to life? How do people adapt to and meet their needs in new environments?
The education module is available at
To celebrate the launch of the International Polar Year (IPY), the University of Washington is hosting a lecture by Robert Bindschadler, chief scientist at NASA's Hydrospheric and Biospheric Sciences Laboratory. An Antarctic field researcher for 25 years, he has led 14 Antarctic field expeditions and participating in many others to glaciers and ice caps around the world.
The lecture will take place March 7 at 7-8 p.m. in Kane Hall, Room 130. The lecture is free, but advanced registration is requested. The lecture is part of Our Changing Climate: Polar Ice to Politics, a series of climate-related lectures and events. For more information, go to
If you woke up tomorrow morning and found yourself on the moon, what would you do? NASA has just released a list of 181 good ideas.
Ever since the end of the Apollo program, "folks around the world have been thinking about returning to the moon, and what they would like to do there," says Jeff Volosin, strategy development lead for NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate.
Now, NASA plans to send astronauts to the Moon no later than 2020. "So we consulted more than 1,000 people from businesses, academia and 13 international space agencies to come up with a master list of 181 potential lunar objectives."
To see the master list, go to
This collection of teacher resources covers earth and space science topics pertaining to astronomy and space, earthquakes, erosion, plate tectonics, rocks, minerals, the rock cycle, volcanoes, water and weather.
Each page links to lesson plans, classroom activities, projects and demonstrations. The resources can be used for elementary, secondary, middle school and university students. Visit Geology.com at
Google Video has a new animation showing the relative diameters of planets in our solar system and those of some bright stars. To view the animation, go to
SETI Institute's Summer Science Experience for Teachers, a curriculum workshop for high school teachers featuring presentations by leading astrobiology researchers, is now accepting application.
The summer institute will be held June 24-30. Graduate credit will be available. Participants will receive copies of the entire Voyages Through Time curriculum and complementary astrobiology materials, developed by NASA's Astrobiology Institute, for use in their classrooms.
The application deadline is Feb. 28, 2007. For more information, visit
Ideas, comments and Web sites of interest to other teachers should be sent to Irene Svete, newsletter editor, at
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