NASA EXPRESS: Your STEM Connection for April 26, 2018

Check out the latest NASA opportunities for the education community. Invite Your Students to Step Aboard Audience: All Educators Contact: JSC-STEMonStation@mail.nasa.gov In two minutes or less, you can teach your students about the International Space Station and why it’s important in our journey to deep space. “So You Want to go to Mars,” a short animated video, provides an easy-to-understand explanation of where we are now, what we’re learning, and why the space station is important to deep space exploration. The video is short, fun and appropriate for all age levels -- from young children to adults. Find more ways to bring NASA into your classroom during NASA’s A Year of Education on Station, a celebration of an almost 12-month presence of a teacher on board the International Space Station. Earth Right Now: What Is Up With Earth's Water Resources? Audience: Educators of Grades 4-10 Event Date: April 30, 2018, at 5 p.m. EDT Contact: susan.m.kohler@nasa.gov Join the NASA STEM Educator Professional Development Collaborative at Texas State University for a free 60-minute webinar. Participants will learn about NASA’s Mission Geography, which delivers problem-based learning modules with real data. Explore investigations focusing on the physical nature of a resource, how humans depend upon the resource, and how human use creates both problems and opportunities by affecting the resource. Online registration required. Solar System and Beyond: Dwarf Planets -- Earth and Space Science Audience: Educators of Grades 6-12 Event Date: May 2, 2018, at 6:30 p.m. EDT Contact: john.f.weis@nasa.gov Join the NASA STEM Educator Professional Development Collaborative at Texas State University for a free 60-minute webinar. Participants will get an overview of the story behind the creation of the “dwarf planet” classification. Learn about currently identified dwarf planets in our solar system and NASA resources for teaching about them. The activities discussed in this webinar address the Next Generation Science Standards PS2 and ESS1. Online registration required. Making Waves With NASA: Optics Resources Audience: Educators of Grades 5-12 Event Date: May 3, 2018, at 6:30 p.m. EDT Contact: john.f.weis@nasa.gov Join the NASA STEM Educator Professional Development Collaborative at Texas State University for a free 60-minute webinar. Participants will get an overview of NASA resources for teaching about waves, lenses and mirrors. The activities discussed in this webinar address the Next Generation Science Standard PS4. Online registration required. Earth Right Now: Hurricanes in the Classroom Audience: Educators of Grades 5-8 Event Date: April 26, 2018, at 6 p.m. EDT Contact: stephen.p.culivan@nasa.gov Join the NASA STEM Educator Professional Development Collaborative at Texas State University for a free 60-minute webinar. As we continue to recover from the 2017 hurricane season and prepare for the 2018 season, discover ways to explore hurricanes, tropical cyclones and other severe storms in the classroom. This webinar will present strategies to integrate NASA hurricane missions and STEM classroom resources and lessons into your instruction. Online registration required. NASA Stennis Community College and Education Faculty Fellowship Program Audience: Full-time Faculty at Accredited Higher Education Institutions in Mississippi and Louisiana Application Deadline: April 27, 2018, at 5 p.m. CDT Fellowship Dates: June 4 - Aug. 10, 2018 Contact: mitch.krell@nasa.gov The NASA Stennis Community College and Education Faculty Fellowship Program provides opportunities for STEM faculty to do research for 10 weeks during the summer at NASA's Stennis Space Center near the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Applicants must be U.S. citizens working full time at a two-year or four-year accredited university or college in Mississippi or Louisiana. The program provides a weekly stipend. Qualified faculty from minority-serving institutions are particularly encouraged to apply. Call for Papers: 2018 International Space Station Research and Development Conference Audience: Higher Education Educators and Students Abstract Submission Deadline: April 27, 2018 Contact: ISSTechChair@atdl-inc.com NASA, the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, and the American Astronomical Society are seeking abstracts from those interested in presenting at the annual International Space Station Research and Development Conference. This year's conference will be held July 23-26 in San Francisco, California. Abstract topics are listed on the conference website. Because of the large number of expected submissions, presenters are encouraged to submit abstracts early. Send Your Name to the Sun on the Parker Solar Probe Audience: All Educators and Students Submission Deadline: April 27, 2018 Contact: Solar-Probe-Plus-Webmaster@jhuapl.edu This summer, a spacecraft the size of a small car will launch on a mission to travel directly into the Sun's atmosphere -- and your name can tag along for the ride! NASA is inviting people around the world to submit their names online to be placed on a microchip aboard NASA’s historic Parker Solar Probe. Facing brutal heat and radiation, the mission will study the corona and solar winds as the probe travels through the Sun’s atmosphere. 2019 eXploration Systems and Habitatation Academic Innovation Challenge Audience: Higher Education Faculty and Students Proposal Deadline: April 27, 2018 Contact: xhab@spacegrant.org The X-Hab Academic Innovation Challenge encourages university-level students to develop innovative design solutions for deep-space human exploration systems. The winners of the challenge will receive $15,000 to $50,000 to design and produce studies or functional products that will increase knowledge and foster risk reduction for space exploration capabilities. Awardees will follow a tailored systems-engineering process with projects being completed in the May 2019 timeframe. 2018 Texas Space Grant Consortium STEM Educator Scholarships Audience: Educators Enrolled in Programs for a Master’s Degree in a STEM Field at Member Institutions of the Texas Space Grant Consortium Application Deadline: April 27, 2018 Contact: scholarships@tsgc.utexas.edu The Texas Space Grant Consortium's Educator STEM Scholarship Program provides $1,500 scholarships to eligible teachers enrolled in master’s programs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields. Applicants must be U.S. citizens who hold a bachelor's degree and are enrolled in a master’s program at a Texas Space Grant Consortium institution. Members of underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply. 2018 Columbia Crew MemorialUndergraduate Scholarships Audience: Undergraduate Students at Member Institutions of the Texas Space Grant Consortium Application Deadline: April 27, 2018 Contact: scholarships@tsgc.utexas.edu The Texas Space Grant Consortium and the Aviation and Space Foundation of Texas, in partnership with NASA, are offering undergraduate scholarships of $1,500 in memory of the Space Shuttle Columbia astronauts. These scholarships recognize outstanding students and encourage graduate studies in STEM-related fields. Applicants must be U.S. citizens and registered for at least a half-time course load at a Texas Space Grant Consortium institution. Members of underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply. 2018-2019 Texas Space Grant Consortium Graduate Fellowships Audience: Graduate Students at Member Institutions of the Texas Space Grant Consortium Application Deadline: April 27, 2018 Contact: fellowships@tsgc.utexas.edu Texas Space Grant Consortium Fellowships encourage graduate study in the fields of space science and engineering. Interdisciplinary and integrated work experience are emphasized. Each $5,000 award supplements half-time graduate support (or a fellowship) provided by a consortium institution. Applicants must be U.S. citizens registered for full-time study in a graduate program at one or more of the Texas Space Grant Consortium institutions. Members of underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply. Amateur Radio on the International Space Station Contact Opportunity Audience: All Educators Proposal Deadline: April 30, 2018 Contact: ariss.us.education@gmail.com ARISS-US is accepting proposals from U.S. schools, museums and community youth organizations (working individually or together) to host an amateur radio event between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2019. To maximize these radio contact opportunities, ARISS-US is looking for organizations that will draw large numbers of participants and integrate the contact into a well-developed, exciting STEAM education plan. Radio events are approximately 10 minutes long. Visit the site for proposal guidelines, forms and upcoming pre-proposal webinars. 2018 NASA SEES TEX2 Teacher Externship Program Audience: Secondary Educators in Texas Application Deadline: May 1, 2018 Contact: baguio@csr.utexas.edu Join NASA, the Texas Space Grant Consortium and The University of Texas at Austin Center for Space Research for a weeklong “externship” this summer. Educators will collaborate with students selected from across the nation and NASA scientists. Participants will conduct research using Earth-observing satellite data and explore STEM careers. Housing, meals and a stipend will be provided. Free ‘Sun, Earth, Universe’ Exhibition Available for Eligible Institutions Audience: Informal Science Education Institutions in the U.S. within the NISE Network (NISENet) Application Deadline: May 1, 2018 In collaboration with NASA, NISENet is accepting applications from eligible institutions to receive a free “Sun, Earth, Universe” exhibition. This engaging and interactive museum exhibition about Earth and space science has been curated with science experts and designed for family audiences. Visit the site for eligibility details. Free, online resources are available for those not selected. Free Webinar -- Sailing Through the Universe: Propelling Your Classroom Into STEM Audience: Educators of Grades 5-10 Event Date: May 2, 2018, at 6 p.m. EDT Contact: afrc-nasabestedu@mail.nasa.gov Join NASA’s Beginning Engineering, Science and Technology educators for a free 60-minute professional development webinar. Learn how NASA is using sunlight as an inexpensive option for propelling spacecraft beyond Earth's orbit. Using NASA's BEST Space Sailing Instructional Guide, participants will explore the engineering design process to build a small space probe prototype. Learn how to incorporate engineering challenges and the engineering design process into your school science program. Register online to participate. Online Training Session: Using NASA Earth Observing Data for Monitoring and Response to Vector-borne and Water-borne Diseases Audience: All Educators Event Date: May 8, 2018, 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. EDT Contact: dorian.w.janney@nasa.gov Vectors are living organisms that are able to transmit diseases between humans or from animals to humans. Vectors include mosquitoes, ticks, sandflies, fleas and other insects. Join NASA’s Global Precipitation Measurement mission for a beginner-level online training webinar to learn how NASA Earth-observing satellite data sets can be used to identify environmental conditions that may result in the onset of vector-borne diseases. Two sessions are being offered.Register online. Free ‘STEM in 30’ Webcast -- How Do We Know What’s Out There? Audience: Grade 6-8 Educators and Students Event Date: May 16, 2018, at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. EDT Contact: STEMin30@si.edu From using the naked eye to the Hubble Space Telescope, we can observe the universe in many different ways. Join the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum for this fast-paced webcast to explore the science behind observing our universe and the equipment allowing us to see farther and farther out. Call for Proposals: NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate's University Leadership Initiative Audience: Accredited, Degree-granting U.S. Colleges and Universities| Step-A Proposal Deadline: May 16, 2018 Contact: HQ-UnivPartnerships@mail.nasa.gov The University Leadership Initiative of NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate provides the opportunity for university teams to exercise technical and organizational leadership in proposing technical challenges, defining interdisciplinary solutions, establishing peer review processes, and applying innovative teamwork strategies to strengthen research impact. Multiple awards are anticipated with nominal budgets in the $1-2M range per award per year. Awards will have a maximum duration of four years. 'CineSpace' Short Film Competition Audience: All Educators and Students Submission Deadline: Aug. 1, 2018 Contact: cinespace@cinemartsociety.org NASA and the Houston Cinema Arts Society invite professional and aspiring filmmakers to share their works using actual NASA imagery. The “CineSpace” competition will accept all genres, including narrative, documentary, comedy, drama, animation and others, up to 10 minutes long. Entries must use at least 10 percent publicly available NASA imagery. Entries will be judged on creativity, innovation and attention to detail. Cash prizes will be awarded to the top submissions.

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