This educator?s guide features three curriculum enhancement activities and one scientific literacy activity, extensive background information, assessment rubrics, student worksheets, extension and transfer activities, and detailed information about the physical science and mathematics content standards. An electronic version of one of the activities is also available that uses a spreadsheet and image ... Full description.

This educators guide blends space exploration with reading and writing. The materials are divided into two units. One unit is designed for students in grades 1 and 2 while the other unit focuses on students in grades 3 and 4. Each includes a series of lessons that take students on a path of exploration of Saturn using reading and writing prompts. Full description.

This teacher guide provides instructions for using the video - Building the Coolest X-ray Satellite: Astro-E2 - in the classroom. The video describes NASA's development of the X-ray Telescopes and X-ray Spectrometer for the Asro-E2 mission. The telescopes utilize grazing optics to focus X-rays, and the spectrometer determines the energy of an X-ray by measuring the temperature rise in a wafer due ... Full description.

This activity guide illustrates how teachers can use planetary comparisons between Earth and Mars to teach basic geologic activities - i.e. volcanoes, impact cratering, layering, river processes, and crosscutting relationships - to help students understand a planet's history. The lessons included in this activity use current science results, as it contains actual orbital data from the Mars Global ... Full description.

This activity introduces the importance of meteorites to the understanding of the origin of the Solar System. Finding meteorites can be difficult because most meteorites look like Earth rocks to the casual or untrained eye. Even to the trained eye, recognizing meteorites can be difficult. Since scientists believe that some meteorites are pieces of the asteroid Vesta, they may be very old remnants ... Full description.

This hands-on activity introduces students to the biological and chemical limitations of photosynthesis. Full description.

This hands-on activity introduces students to searching for asteroids. Full description.

This hands-on activity explores the nature of thermal inertia. Full description.

This hands-on activity is designed to introduce students to the complexities of using solar panels in space exploration. Full description.

This activity is designed to introduce the engineering aspects of precision pointing of spacecraft. Full description.