NASA EXPRESS: Your STEM Connection for July 26, 2018

Today is National Intern Day! Each year, almost 2,000 students across the United States get the opportunity of a lifetime: a chance to intern at NASA. Keep an eye on @NASAInterns today for fun events to celebrate! Check out the latest NASA opportunities for the education community. Space Station Update—Three Minutes Or Less Audience: All Educators Contact: JSC-STEMonStation@mail.nasa.gov Do you wish you could stay on top of what’s happening aboard the International Space Station without spending hours searching the web? Check out Space to Ground; a brief video featuring a summary of activities on the space station that week. The videos are posted on YouTube each Friday, and are a great way to stay current on research, crewmembers and visiting vehicles. Each episode ends with the answer to an audience question like “How many rooms does the space station have?” Episodes often point educators to related learning tools. Find more ways to bring NASA into your classroom during NASA’s A Year of Education on Station, a celebration of a yearlong educator presence on the station. Explore Space Technology: Detecting Exoplanets Audience: Educators of Grades 9-12 Event Date: Aug. 6 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. Get an overview of methods used to detect planets outside of the solar system and explore related NASA education resources. Information includes the latest missions and data. Discussion will include modifications of activities and accommodations. Activities address the Next Generation Science Standards PS2, PS4 and ESS1. Online registration is required. Comparative Planetology: Characteristics of Planets—Earth and Space Sciences Audience: Educators of Grades 9-12 Event Date: Aug. 7 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. Learn how planets are classified by their characteristics and how studies of other planets help us understand Earth. Explore related NASA education resources. Information includes the latest missions and data. Activities address the Next Generation Science Standards ESS1, ESS2 and PS2. Online registration is required. Explore Space Technology: Drag Devices and Decelerators Audience: Educators of Grades K-12 Event Date: Aug. 8 at 6:30 p.m. EDT Contact: barbie.buckner@nasa.gov Join the NASA STEM Educator Professional Development Collaborative at Texas State University for a free 60-minute webinar. Learn what it takes to move around on Mars and how gravity there is different than Earth’s. Participants will learn about the Beginning Engineering Science and Technology (BEST) curriculum and use the engineering design process to create a drag device. Activities are aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards. Online registration is required. Elementary GLOBE: Climate Change Audience: Educators of Grades K-5 Event Date: Aug. 9 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. Explore science-based storybooks designed to introduce students to key concepts related to water, soil, clouds, seasons, aerosols, climate and Earth system studies. The Elementary Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) program explores classroom learning activities complementing the science content covered in each storybook that are designed to further engage students in GLOBE's investigation areas. Online registration is required. Earth Science Week 2018 Photography Contest Audience: Public Entry Deadline: Oct. 19 at 5 p.m. EDT Contact: info@earthsciweek.org Celebrate Earth Science Week 2018 with American Geosciences Institute’s photography contest. Photographs should support the topic "Inspired by Earth" and show a view of the natural world that you find inspiring. Any resident of the United States or any AGI international affiliate may enter. Entries must be submitted electronically. Only one entry will be accepted per person. Earth Science Week 2018 Visual Arts Contest Audience: Students in Grades K-5 Entry Deadline: Oct. 19 Contact: info@earthsciweek.org Celebrate Earth Science Week 2018 with American Geosciences Institute’s visual arts contest. Artwork should focus on the topic "Earth and Art." The contest is open to students in grades K-5 who are residents of the United States. Participants should submit an original 2D visual arts project that shows how the natural world is part of making art. Entries must be submitted by mail. Earth Science Week 2018 Essay Contest Audience: Students in Grades 6-9 Entry Deadline: Oct. 19 at 5 p.m. EDT Contact: info@earthsciweek.org Celebrate Earth Science Week 2018 with American Geosciences Institute’s essay contest. Essays should focus on the theme "Finding ‘Art’ in Earth." The contest is open to students in grades 6-9 who are residents of the United States. Participants should submit an original essay up to 300 words in length, typed and formatted to fit on one page. Entries must be submitted electronically. Earth Science Week 2018 Video Contest Audience: International Public Entry Deadline: Oct. 19 at 5 p.m. EDT Contact: info@earthsciweek.org Celebrate Earth Science Week 2018 with American Geosciences Institute’s video contest. Videos should focus on the theme "Earth Expressions." Submit a brief, 30-90 second original video that tells viewers about artistic expression that stems from the natural world. The contest is open to individuals or teams of interested persons of any age in any part of the world. Entries must be submitted electronically. International Space Station: Environmental Control and Life Support Systems—Ecosystems Audience: Educators of Grades 6-12 Event Date: July 30 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. Explore the Environmental Control and Life Support Systems on the International Space Station and associated video and activity resources. Treating the space station as a small scale ecosystem will be discussed. This webinar addresses the Next Generation Science Standards LS2.B and LS2.C. Online registration is required. Call for Proposals: NASA Research Announcement—Space Technology Research Institutes Audience: Accredited U.S. Universities Preliminary Proposal Deadline: July 30 Contact: HQ-STMD-STRI@mail.nasa.gov NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate is seeking to invest, via research institutes, in university-led, multidisciplinary basic research and technology development within particular areas of strong interest to NASA and the aerospace community. Typically, an awarded institute will be funded up to $15M for a five-year period. Accredited U.S. universities are eligible to submit proposals; teaming with other universities is required, and teaming with nonprofit entities and industry is permitted. Learning from the Dark: Dark Matter and Energy—Physical Science Audience: Educators of Grades 6-12 Event Date: July 31 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. Explore dark energy and matter, and discuss their significance in cosmology and physics. Learn about linking these concepts to physical science and Earth space science standards. The activities address the Next Generation Science Standards PS2, PS3, PS4 and ESS1. Online registration is required. Webinar—Solar Storms in the Ionosphere and the NASA GOLD Mission Audience: Public Event Date: Aug. 1 at 4 p.m. EDT (1 p.m. PDT) Contact: tom.mason@lasp.colorado.edu NASA’s Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) mission has been placed into its geostationary orbit and will soon begin capturing unprecedented images of Earth’s interface to space. Join GOLD scientist Stan Solomon to learn how the GOLD instrument—an ultraviolet imaging spectrograph—will measure the response of Earth’s upper atmosphere to changes in solar activity. 'CineSpace' Short Film Competition Audience: All Educators and Students Submission Deadline: Aug. 1 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. Explore Space Tech: Rockets 101 Audience: Educators of Grades 4-8 Event Date: Aug. 2 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. Blast off into learning by exploring the math and science of rockets with NASA missions and STEM classroom resources. Launch your students' interest and excitement in forces and motion with inquiry-based rocket activities and design challenges that include designing, building and launching simple rockets. Online registration is required. 2018 Thermal and Fluids Analysis Workshop Audience: Higher Education Educators and Students Registration Deadline: Aug. 3 Workshop Dates: Aug. 20-24 Contact: rubik.b.sheth@nasa.gov The Thermal and Fluids Analysis Workshop encourages knowledge sharing, professional development, and networking within the thermal and fluids engineering community across NASA, academia, and the greater aerospace industry. NASA will host this year's free workshop in Galveston, Texas. STEM faculty and university students are welcome. Mars InSight Roadshow at the San Diego Air & Space Museum Audience: Open to All Event Dates: Aug. 3-5 Contact: Sarah.S.Marcotte@jpl.nasa.gov Scientists and engineers working on NASA's InSight Mission are bringing the Mars InSight Roadshow to the San Diego Air & Space Museum in California. The roadshow brings family friendly science activities, exhibits and discussions to communities throughout California. Stop by to chat with NASA scientists and engineers, learn about marsquakes and find out how InSight will study in-depth the inner space of Mars: its crust, mantle and core. Free Lecture -- The Incredible Continuing Adventures of the Spitzer Space Telescope Audience: All Educators; Students in Grades 9-12 and Higher Education Event Date: Aug. 9 - 10, 2018, at 7 p.m. PDT (10 p.m. EDT) Contact: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/contact_JPL.php Launched in 2003, the Spitzer Space Telescope was designed to observe the universe in infrared light for five years. Fifteen years later, the telescope continues to exceed expectations. Join project manager Dr. Sean Carey for a discussion about the telescope’s extended mission and scientific discoveries. Attend the lectures in person, or view Thursday's lecture via live webcast. NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility Visitor Center Programs Audience: Public Event Dates: Every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday Through Aug. 31 Contact: Kimberly.A.Check@nasa.gov The NASA Visitor Center at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia is offering free educational programs for visitors of all ages. Programs are scheduled each Wednesday, Friday and Saturday throughout July and August. Programs include solar system tours, “Science on the Sphere” presentations, hands-on STEAM Labs, and rocketry. Scout troops, home school and youth groups are encouraged to attend. Please call ahead for group larger than eight people. Free Tour at NASA's Glenn Research Center: Explore NASA’s Drop Zone -- the Zero Gravity Research Facility Audience: All Educators and Students Registration Opens: Aug. 8, 2018 Event Date: Sept. 8, 2018 Contact: grc-tours@mail.nasa.gov NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, offers 45-minute tours that take tourists behind the scenes to one of the center’s test facilities. On Sept. 8, explore the Zero Gravity Research Facility, which puts payloads into a free fall for five seconds as they drop over 400 feet. A bus departs from NASA’s main gate every hour beginning at 9 a.m. The last tour departs at noon. RESERVATIONS are required.

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