Digital Learning and Educational Activities and Resources from NASA Science

Whether you’re an educator or an independent learner, we’d like to help you find digital learning resources with Learning and Educational Activities and Resources from NASA Science (LEARN Science)! Browse the categories linked below to discover awesome, ready-to-use activities and resources to launch your NASA Science investigations.

We also invite you to continue discovering NASA Science Events and Activities throughout the school year by following @DoNASAScience on Facebook & Twitter for more ways to engage.

Formal Educator Resources

• NASA eCLIPS™

  • NASA’s Our World: Engage your learners with NASA’s Our World videos (grades 3-5) that are aligned with national STEM standards and explore NASA-inspired science (the natural world) and engineering (the designed world) topics.
  • Ask SME: Close-up with a NASA Subject Matter Expert: Spark your learners’ interest and broaden their ideas about the STEM workforce by introducing them to Ask SME videos that capture a glimpse of NASA SMEs’ personal interests and career journeys.
  • NASA Spotlites: Share these short (90-120 second) student-produced videos with your learners to provoke discussions about science misconceptions. 

• ASTROMATERIALS RESEARCH & EXPLORATION SCIENCE (ARES)

  • Where in the World Interactives: Engage learners with astronaut photographs from the International Space Station to help them build knowledge and skills about features, locations, and the geography of Earth. Learners can earn and personalize their NASA badge after completing each interactive.

• GLOBE Mission Earth - My NASA Data

  • Data Literacy Cube Guide: Engage all learners, including multilingual learners, with differentiated questions to analyze maps, graphs, or data.

• NASA eCLIPS™

  • Guide Lites: Explore Guide Lites for streamlined, hands-on activities that support inquiry- and design-based learning for formal and nonformal audiences.

• COSMIC DATA STORIES

  • Carina Mini Data Story: Explore Hubble and JWST images of the Carina Nebula in a virtual sky and learn how astronomers use different types of light to learn about objects in space.
  • Green Comet Mini Data Story: Check out the path of Comet ZTF, the “Green Comet,” through the sky, find out why it's green and discover why comet tails point where they do!

• GLOBE MISSION EARTH

  • My NASA Data: Use NASA data to understand science phenomena. Resources are organized by Earth system sphere, aligned to Next Generation Science Standards, and scaffolded to provide quick activities through Mini Lessons, longer Lesson Plans, or student facing Interactives. Get started using the faceted search or access the Data Literacy Cube Guide to scaffold data analysis for all learners, including multilingual learners.

• NASA eCLIPS™

  • Educator Guides: Explore a library of Educator Guides for 5E constructivist lessons that incorporate NASA eClips™ video segments.

• NASA eCLIPS™

  • NASA’s Real World: Engage your learners with NASA’s Real World videos (grades 6-8) that demonstrate how mathematics is a tool to solve real-world problems related to NASA-inspired science and engineering.
  • Ask SME: Close-up with a NASA Subject Matter Expert: Spark your learners’ interest and broaden their ideas about the STEM workforce by introducing them to Ask SME videos that capture a glimpse of NASA SMEs’ personal interests and career journeys.
  • NASA Spotlites: Share these short (90-120 second) student-produced videos with your learners to provoke discussions about science misconceptions.

• OPENSPACE

  • Field Trip: Mars Kahoot: Join the American Museum of Natural History on a virtual field trip to Mars, then test your students’ knowledge of the Red Planet.
  • Field Trip: Moon Kahoot: Take your class on a virtual journey from Earth, to the International Space Station, to the Moon and beyond, then test your students’ knowledge. 

• ASTROMATERIALS RESEARCH & EXPLORATION SCIENCE (ARES)

  • Where in the World & Classifying Moon Rocks Interactives: Engage your learners with interactives that allow them to work with NASA data including astronaut photos or Earth (Where in the World) or Apollo Moon rocks (Classifying Moon Rocks). Learners pick up fun facts, have options to explore more and can even download and personalize their own badge!

• GLOBE MISSION EARTH - MY NASA DATA

  • Data Literacy Cube Guide : Engage all learners, including multilingual learners, with differentiated questions to analyze maps, graphs, or data.

• INFINISCOPE

  • Our Wonder for the Stars: A virtual field trip to investigate space exploration of the past and NASA’s newest endeavor, James Webb Space Telescope.
  • Phases of Matter Visualization: Experiment with temperature and pressure on different planets to create phase change diagrams for water, carbon dioxide, and methane.

• NASA eCLIPS™

  • Guide Lites: Explore Guide Lites for streamlined, hands-on activities that support inquiry- and design-based learning for formal and nonformal audiences.

• BRINGING THE UNIVERSE TO AMERICA’S CLASSROOM

  • Solar System Explorer: Explore an accurate online model of our solar system that is based on NASA imagery and other real data. Navigate through space, control time, and explore the Sun, planets, and moons from up close and far away.

• GLOBE MISSION EARTH

  • My NASA Data: Use NASA data to understand science phenomena. Resources are organized by Earth system sphere, aligned to Next Generation Science Standards, and scaffolded to provide quick activities through Mini Lessons, longer Lesson Plans, or student facing Interactives. Get started using the faceted search or access the Data Literacy Cube Guide to scaffold data analysis for all learners, including multilingual learners.

• INFINISCOPE

  • Phases of the Moon: Explore the phases of the Moon in this cool 80's retro style experience featuring an AI friend LuCIA and an immersive simulation designed to fully experience moon phases. 
  • Eclipses (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3): This 3-part series explores the three components responsible for solar and lunar eclipses, planetary body arrangement, size, and inclination, using NASA Eyes on the Solar System visualization engine.

• NASA EARTH SCIENCE EDUCATION COLLABORATIVE

  • NSTA Science Scope: Making Science Come Alive with Clouds: Learn strategies from middle school teachers to facilitate student environmental observations of clouds using technology - the GLOBE Observer mobile app.
  • Zika Zine: A story of Three Aedes Mosquitoes: Meet Wanda, Hester, and Maurice in the interactive Zika Zine to learn how Aedes mosquitoes live, why NASA is interested in them, and how you can help NASA by documenting mosquito habitats with the GLOBE Observer app.  After reading the comic, learners can use How to Draw Wanda in 9 Easy Steps and Make Your Own Zika Zine Comic as templates to create their own pictures and stories using tools as simple as a piece of paper to presentation software. 

• NASA eCLIPS™

  • Educator Guides: Explore a library of Educator Guides for 5E constructivist lessons that incorporate NASA eClips™ video segments.
  • Spotlite Design Challenge: Help learners research, write scripts and produce short videos to build their own understanding of science concepts through the Spotlite Design Challenge.

• OPENSPACE

  • American Museum of Natural History: GRACE Teaching Case: This 4-part teaching case includes passages and accompanying stop-and-think questions that encourage students to investigate NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission. 

• ASTROMATERIALS RESEARCH & EXPLORATION SCIENCE (ARES)

  • Where in the World & Classifying Moon Rocks Interactives: Engage your learners with interactives that allow them to work with NASA data including astronaut photos or Earth (Where in the World) or Apollo Moon rocks (Classifying Moon Rocks). Learners pick up fun facts, have options to explore more and can even download and personalize their own badge!
  • Astromaterials 3D: Explore like never before!  This virtual library provides an opportunity for individuals to explore samples from NASA’s Apollo Moon Rock and Antarctic Meteorite collections! Interact with each sample as you explore the exterior and interior of samples, drop a pin to identify and share interesting sample features and so much more!

• COSMIC DATA STORIES

  • Carina Mini Data Story: Explore Hubble and JWST images of the Carina Nebula in a virtual sky and learn how astronomers use different types of light to learn about objects in space.
  • Green Comet Mini Data Story: Check out the path of Comet ZTF, the “Green Comet,” through the sky,  find out why it's green and discover why comet tails point where they do!

• INFINISCOPE

  • River Cane: A teacher-created virtual field trip, developed by Smoky Mountain STEM Collaborative, that explores the ecology and restoration of a plant important to the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians in North Carolina.
  • Deep Time Visualization: Throw away the adding machine tape and take a scroll through all of astronomical and geologic time in this visualization, from the Big Bang to the collision of the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies.

• NASA eCLIPS™

  • NASA Launchpad: Engage your learners with NASA Launchpad videos (grades 9-12) that explore NASA innovations and technologies that propel us into the future.
  • Ask SME: Close-up with a NASA Subject Matter Expert: Spark your learners’ interest and broaden their ideas about the STEM workforce by introducing them to Ask SME videos that capture a glimpse of NASA SMEs’ personal interests and career journeys.
  • NASA Spotlites: Share these short (90-120 second) student-produced videos with your learners to provoke discussions about science misconceptions.

• GLOBE MISSION EARTH - MY NASA DATA

  • Data Literacy Cube Guide: Engage all learners, including multilingual learners, with differentiated questions to analyze maps, graphs, or data.

• NASA eCLIPS™

  • Guide Lites: Explore Guide Lites for streamlined, hands-on activities that support inquiry- and design-based learning for formal and nonformal audiences.

• BRINGING THE UNIVERSE TO AMERICA’S CLASSROOM

  • Solar System Explorer: Explore an accurate online model of our solar system that is based on NASA imagery and other real data. Navigate through space, control time, and explore the Sun, planets, and moons from up close and far away.
  • Life Cycle of Stars; Explore objects representing various stages of the stellar life cycle and uncover how these stages fit together into two related sequences: one for Sun-like stars (similar in mass to our Sun) and one for massive stars (more than 8–10 times the mass of our Sun).
  • Hubble's Evidence for the Big Bang: Explore data from real galaxies to assemble evidence for the expansion of the Universe. 

• GLOBE MISSION EARTH

  • My NASA Data: Use NASA data to understand science phenomena. Resources are organized by Earth system sphere, aligned to Next Generation Science Standards, and scaffolded to provide quick activities through Mini Lessons, longer Lesson Plans, or student facing Interactives. Get started using the faceted search or access the Data Literacy Cube Guide to scaffold data analysis for all learners, including multilingual learners.

• INFINISCOPE

  • Red Rocks: Explore red rocks of Earth to interpret red rocks of Mars and seek the answer to the question, why is Mars red?
  • Star Party: Create stars from a stellar nebula and follow their life cycle in an experience where you are hosting a star party and answering questions or resolving misconceptions from attendees.
  • Dino Doom: Follow in the footsteps of Walter Alvarez and collect clues across the globe to answer the question “what really caused this global mass extinction.”
  • Fate of the Plates: Investigate plate margins, explore surface features and model plate boundaries as you traverse the globe with Orby, an interplanetary explorer who is fascinated by Earth's unique surface.
  • Solar Energy Lab: Solar energy technology virtual field trip created by Dr. Sian Proctor discussing impacts of solar energy on society and the environment.

• NASA eCLIPS™

  • Educator Guides: Explore a library of Educator Guides for 5E constructivist lessons that incorporate NASA eClips™ video segments.
  • Spotlite Design Challenge: Help learners research, write scripts and produce short videos to build their own understanding of science concepts through the Spotlite Design Challenge.

• NASA EARTH SCIENCE EDUCATION COLLABORATIVE

  • GLOBE Observer App: Students can use the app to report observations as citizen scientists; they can even compare their cloud observations to satellite data, contrast their land cover observations to historical photos, help reduce mosquito breeding habitats, or use their math skills to confirm tree height estimates. 
  • Student Investigations with NASA: Engage students in phenomenon-based science investigations through student research and field campaigns related to NASA satellite missions and science: NASA GLOBE Clouds with Satellite Match, Mission Mosquito, Trees Around the GLOBE, U.S. Air Quality, and GLOBE Observer Eclipse.  
  • GLOBE Educator One-Week Pacing Guides: Guides include air quality, clouds (type and energy budget), mosquito habitats, plant phenology, trees and the carbon cycle, and urban heat island; each includes a webinar recording and an example sequence Next Generation Science Standards alignment.

• OPENSPACE

  • ​American Museum of Natural History: GRACE Teaching Case: This 4-part teaching case includes passages and accompanying stop and think questions for students to investigate NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission. 

• ASTROMATERIALS RESEARCH & EXPLORATION SCIENCE (ARES)

  • Astromaterials 3D: Explore like never before!  This virtual library provides an opportunity for individuals to explore samples from NASA’s Apollo Moon Rock and Antarctic Meteorite collections! Interact with each sample as you explore the exterior and interior of samples, drop a pin to identify and share interesting sample features and so much more!

• COSMIC DATA STORIES

  • Mini Data Stories: Online experiences for exploring NASA imagery in an interactive virtual sky, with written guides and videos from scientists sharing why they study these objects.

• BRINGING THE UNIVERSE TO AMERICA’S CLASSROOM

  • Solar System Explorer: Explore an accurate online model of our solar system that is based on NASA imagery and other real data. Navigate through space, control time, and explore the Sun, planets, and moons from up close and far away.
  • Life Cycle of Stars: Explore objects representing various stages of the stellar life cycle and uncover how these stages fit together into two related sequences: one for Sun-like stars (similar in mass to our Sun) and one for massive stars (more than 8–10 times the mass of our Sun).
  • Hubble's Evidence for the Big Bang: Explore data from real galaxies to assemble evidence for the expansion of the Universe.

• INFINISCOPE

  • Red Rocks: Explore red rocks of Earth to interpret red rocks of Mars and seek the answer to the question, why is Mars red?
  • Star Party: Create stars from a stellar nebula and follow their life cycle in an experience where you are hosting a star party and answering questions or resolving misconceptions from attendees.
  • Dino Doom: Follow in the footsteps of Walter Alvarez and collect clues across the globe to answer the question “what really caused this global mass extinction.”
  • Fate of the Plates: Investigate plate margins, explore surface features and model plate boundaries as you traverse the globe with Orby, an interplanetary explorer who is fascinated by Earth's unique surface.
  • Habitable Worlds Course: Explore the formation of stars, planets, Earth, life, intelligence, technological civilizations and, ultimately, a quest of exploration as we attempt to answer one of the most profound questions: are we alone in the universe?

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Informal Educator Resources

• COSMIC DATA STORIES

  • Mini Data Stories: Online experiences for exploring NASA imagery in an interactive virtual sky, with written guides and videos from scientists sharing why they study these objects.

• NASA eCLIPS™

  • NASA eClips™ Videos: NASA eClips™ videos are tailored to meet the needs of students in grades 3-12 to increase STEM literacy through the lens of NASA.

• NASA’S UNIVERSE OF LEARNING

  • Sonification of Webb's Transmission Spectrum of Exoplanet WASP-96 b: NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope observed the atmospheric characteristics of the hot gas giant exoplanet WASP-96 b – which contains clear signatures of water – and the resulting transmission spectrum’s individual data points were translated into sound.
  • Sonifications of Webb's Image of the Cosmic Cliffs in the Carina Nebula: There’s an immersive way to explore some of the first full-color infrared images and data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope – through sound. Listeners can enter the complex soundscape of a near-infrared image of the Cosmic Cliffs in the Carina Nebula, a large cloud of gas and dust where stars are forming or have already formed.
  • Sonifications of Webb's Images of the Southern Ring Nebula: These sonifications scan the images from left to right. The new sounds were also adapted to a video, allowing sighted viewers to watch as a vertical line moves across the frame.
  • ViewSpace Interactives Library: ViewSpace Interactives allow you to explore objects and materials from different perspectives, and discover how we can combine information to better understand the universe.
  • ViewSpace Video Library: Developed by a team of scientists, educators, writers, and designers working closely with NASA missions, ViewSpace videos feature the latest imagery from satellites and space telescopes, and provide unique insight into our understanding of the universe.

• NASA eCLIPS™

  • NASA eClips™ Videos: NASA eClips™ videos are tailored to meet the needs of students in grades 3-12 to increase STEM literacy through the lens of NASA.

• NIFTY

  • SciGirls Get Tech Activity Guide: The activities in this book are gender-equitable, hands-on projects that serve as entrees to tech.

• BRINGING THE UNIVERSE TO AMERICA’S CLASSROOM

  • Solar System Explorer: Explore an accurate online model of our solar system that is based on NASA imagery and other real data. Navigate through space, control time, and explore the Sun, planets, and moons from up close and far away.
  • Life Cycle of Stars: Explore objects representing various stages of the stellar life cycle and uncover how these stages fit together into two related sequences: one for Sun-like stars (similar in mass to our Sun) and one for massive stars (more than 8–10 times the mass of our Sun)

• NASA EARTH SCIENCE EDUCATION COLLABORATIVE

  • Making Science Come Alive with Clouds: Learn strategies from middle school teachers to facilitate student environmental observations of clouds using technology - the GLOBE Observer mobile app.
  • GLOBE Observer Toolkit for Informal Educators: Watch this short video for a quick overview of GLOBE Observer citizen science, ideas for integrating into programs, and browse the Toolkit for Informal Educators.

• NASA eCLIPS™

  • NASA eClips™: NASA eClips™ videos, activities, and lessons are tailored to meet the needs of students in grades 3-12 to increase STEM literacy through the lens of NASA.

• NASA’S UNIVERSE OF LEARNING

  • How to Talk to a Spacecraft: Binary coding activities can be a fun activity to do at home as well. 
  • Light & Color: Exploring Visible Light Activity Guide: This activity introduces learners to the visible-light spectrum and color mixing. Your event’s attendees may explore visible light by observing it with diffraction grating glasses to see how it can be broken up into its component colors (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet).
  • The Expanded Universe: Playing with Time Activity Guide: In this activity, participants use balloons to model the expansion of the universe and observe how expansion affects wavelengths of light and distance between galaxies.
  • Exoplanet Trading Cards and Activity Guide: The exoplanet card game is a round-robin game that uses the 14 exoplanet game cards.
  • Paper Circuits: Light Up Exploded Stars: Paper circuits help learners of all ages explore the basics of electricity (energy that results from the existence of charged particles like electrons or protons) and conductivity (the degree to which a material can conduct electricity).

• NASA @ MY LIBRARY

  • STEM Activity Clearinghouse: High quality, vetted STEM activities that are appropriate for library use. 

• NASA EARTH SCIENCE EDUCATION COLLABORATIVE

  • GLOBE Observer Girl Scouts Guide: Girl Scouts can use the GLOBE Observer app to complete their Think Like a Citizen Scientist Journey.
  • GLOBE Observer Toolkit for Informal Educators: Watch this short video for a quick overview of GLOBE Observer citizen science, ideas for integrating into programs, and browse the Toolkit for Informal Educators.

• NASA eCLIPS™

  • Spotlite Design Challenge: Help learners research, write scripts and produce short videos to build their own understanding of science concepts through the Spotlite Design Challenge.

• NASA’S UNIVERSE OF LEARNING

  • Girls STEAM Ahead with NASA Cookbook: Create your own Girls STEAM Ahead with NASA event using NASA’s Universe of Learning resources. Like any typical cookbook, our Program Cookbook includes recipes for events that are ordered by topic.
  • Recoloring the Universe: Color, Astronomy and Coding: Using data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and other satellites of exploded stars, star-forming regions, and black holes, you'll learn basic coding.
  • Tinkercad: Universe in 3D: When scientists combine data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory with other telescopes, such as the Hubble or Spitzer space telescopes, or with scientific and mathematical models, we can create data-driven 3D maps of objects in our universe, such as stars that have exploded.
  • MicroObservatory: NASA's space science researchers control some of the world's most sophisticated space probes and orbiting telescopes to get amazing images of objects in space. Now YOU can join them by operating your OWN ground-based MicroObservatories – real robotic telescopes that you command through this website!
  • DIY Planet Search: Help scientists better understand the movements of these planets around other stars by taking your own measurements of known exoplanets and contributing them to the DIY Planet Search Community.

• See full list of upcoming OpenSpace events
• See full list of upcoming and past NASA’s Universe of Learning events
• See full list of upcoming webinars from NISENET
• See full list of upcoming events from Infiniscope

• INFINISCOPE 

  • Tour It in 5 Minutes: Learn the fundamentals of creating your own virtual field trips using Infiniscope’s free Tour It tool in a quick 5 minute tutorial video.
  • Incorporating Maps: Learn innovative and creative ways to integrate maps into a virtual field trip using Infiniscope’s free Tour It tool.

• OPENSPACE

  • What Will the James Webb Space Telescope See Out There?; Join American Museum of Natural History astrophysicist Jackie Faherty and Director of Astrovisualization Carter Emmart for this special look at the most complex space telescope ever built, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

• NASA’S UNIVERSE OF LEARNING

  • Science Briefings: The NASA’s Universe of Learning Science Briefings are professional learning telecons that highlight current NASA astrophysics explorations and discoveries for the informal science education community, done in partnership with the NASA’s Museum & Informal Education Alliance. 

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Independent Self-Directed

Explore with Simulations and Interactives

• ASTROMATERIALS RESEARCH & EXPLORATION SCIENCE (ARES)

  • Where in the World Interactives: Have fun earning badges as you complete the NASA Expedition Earth Where in the World interactives! Engage with astronaut photographs of Earth taken with hand-held cameras by crew on the International Space Station. Learn fun facts about features, locations, and the geography of Earth.

• BRINGING THE UNIVERSE TO AMERICA’S CLASSROOM

  • Solar System Explorer: Explore an accurate online model of our solar system that is based on NASA imagery and other real data. Navigate through space, control time, and explore the Sun, planets, and moons from up close and far away.

• COSMIC DATA STORIES

  • Carina Mini Data Story: Explore Hubble and JWST images of the Carina Nebula in a virtual sky and learn how astronomers use different types of light to learn about objects in space.
  • Green Comet Mini Data Story: Check out the path of Comet ZTF, the “Green Comet,” through the sky,  find out why it's green and discover why comet tails point where they do!

• GLOBE MISSION EARTH - MY NASA DATA 

  • Chlorophyll  Concentrations and Incoming Solar Radiation: Using interactive maps of chlorophyll concentration, students will identify patterns to describe the relationship between phytoplankton distribution and incoming shortwave radiation.
  • Cloud Sort Activity: Learn about the different cloud types and their names. Match cloud photos and names by cloud type and for all types. Evaluate the types of clouds represented in various data displays.
  • Global Phytoplankton Distribution: Using interactive maps of chlorophyll concentration, students will identify patterns to formulate their explanations of phytoplankton distribution over time and space.
  • Interactive Weather Observations: Students track weather over time and create a bar chart to track their data. 
  • Patterns in Earth’s Surface Temperature: Using interactive maps of surface (skin) temperature and land cover classification in Austin, Texas, students will analyze how surface (skin) temperatures vary across a community and determine what factors contribute to this variation. Upon completion of this lesson, students will be able to describe how human activity alters the local environment.
  • Sky Color and Visibility: In this lesson, students will explore the effect of aerosols on sky color and visibility by using an interactive virtual model. 

• INFINISCOPE

  • Phases of Matter Visualization: Experiment with temperature and pressure on different planets to create phase change diagrams for water, carbon dioxide, and methane.
  • Moon Phases Explorer: Play a game against Lucia to test your moon phase knowledge or explore the 3D model of the phases of the moon.

• NASA @ MY LIBRARY

  • SciGames: A free collection of web based games and interactives, including a solar system simulator, rover games, and more.

• NASA’S UNIVERSE OF LEARNING

  • ViewSpace: A free, web-based collection of dozens of digital interactives and hundreds of videos highlighting the latest developments in astronomy and Earth science.
  • Videos from NASA’s Universe of Learning: Watch visualizations of cosmic objects that tell multiwavelength science stories and create 3D astronomy experiences.

Ages 8-10

Take a Field Trip

• INFINISCOPE

  • Our Wonder for the Stars: A virtual field trip to investigate space exploration of the past and NASA’s newest endeavor, James Webb Space Telescope.
  • Extinction Story: Travel back in time to the dinosaur extinction event and investigate the layer of clay as evidence of a meteor impact in Hell Creek, Montana. 

• OPENSPACE

  • Field Trip: Space Flight OLogy: Go on a virtual journey from Earth, to the International Space Station, to the Moon and beyond. Experience the thrill! See the sites! And discover what goes into successful mission planning. Watch the video and then test your knowledge!
  • Field Trip: Mars OLogy: Take an expedition across the Martian landscape, over canyons, impact craters, volcanoes and the landing site of a Mars rover. Watch the video and then test your knowledge!