NASA Science Events and Activities

Let NASA bring the universe to you!

We’re inviting every student, educator, and lifelong learner to share in the excitement of scientific discovery and space exploration through unique opportunities from NASA’s Science Activation Program – a community-based approach to connect NASA science with learners of all ages. Check out these events and activities for educators, families, and students in kindergarten and up.

Upcoming Events & Activities

 

June 20-22: Middle School Science Summer Camp at Choctaw Cultural Center, Oklahoma

The NASA Science Activation program’s Native Earth | Native Sky project invites all rising middle-schoolers to a Science Summer Camp at the Choctaw Cultural Center in Durant, Oklahoma. From June 20-22, 2023, up to thirty learners will experience the new Native Earth | Native Sky Choctaw Nation middle school earth-sky curriculum. 

If your middle schooler is interested in attending, please fill out the Science Summer Camp Application.

 

Large (over 100,000 sq ft) facility of the Choctaw Cultural Center. It is a tan and brown building adorned with images of Choctaw people dancing and diamond (rhombus) shapes, a characteristic shape in Choctaw culture. There are lamp posts and a wavy sidewalk leading up to the building. The foreground is a sea of green grasses and plants, and the background is a bright blue sky with a few cirrocumulus clouds.

June 27-29: Virtual Field Trip Workshop for Educators

If you’re a formal/informal educator or subject matter expert who wants to take your learners on an incredible virtual adventure, the Infiniscope project has an amazing summer workshop for you. 

Virtual field trips enable students to explore the world around them free from the limitations of traditional field trips. This free workshop will give you the tools you need to deliver place-based education that’s accessible to all your learners.  

Infiniscope is a NASA-funded project that is transforming Earth and space science education and empowering educators through the creation of high-quality adaptive digital learning experiences, educator professional development, a community of practice, creative tools for designing digital content, and a robust set of educator resources.

 

 

A desert landscape with a paved road leading to the large, bright, full Moon. The night sky is studded with beautiful stars and celestial objects. The text on the top left reads, “Create a Virtual Field Trip with Tour It! June 27-29, 2023.” A small Infiniscope logo sits in the bottom right corner.

June – November: Culturally Inclusive Planetary Engagement Workshops (In-Person)

A circular icon showing a ringed planet and nearby smaller moon hovering above the palm of an outstretched hand sits to the left of the words, “Planetary ReaCh”. The background shows a textured planetary surface covered in what look like mountains, valleys, ridges, and craters.

NASA Science Activation’s Planetary Resources and Content Heroes (ReaCH) team invites planetary scientists and astrobiologists (including graduate students, post-doctoral researchers, engineers and technicians) and informal (out-of-school time) educators to apply to attend a Culturally Inclusive Planetary Engagement professional development workshop. 

During the workshop, scientists and educators are paired together and supported in bi-directional conversations around diversity and inclusion in engaging Black and Latinx audiences in planetary science. Participants also co-create and lead hands-on activities during a public engagement event following the workshop held in collaboration with a local youth-serving organization. These events allow workshop participants the opportunity to practice engagement strategies discussed in the workshop.

Workshop Dates & Locations: 

  • June 8-10 | Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana
  • June 22-24 | SETI Institute in Mountain View, California
  • August 17-19 | Pérez Art Museum in Miami, Florida
  • September TBD
  • September/October TBD
  • November 2-4 | Puerto Rico

Learn More & Apply

 

 

On-Demand Events & Activities

Girls STEAM Ahead with NASA Program Cookbook

Girls STEAM Ahead with NASA is a project within NASA’s Universe of Learning that empowers libraries and community-based organizations to engage girls and their families in exploring the wonders of NASA science and celebrate the contributions of women to science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM).
 
The Girls STEAM Ahead with NASA Program Cookbook has been designed to guide educators in creating their events. It includes “recipes” about different astrophysics-related topics with sample scenarios, accessibility tips, information on how to request a subject matter expert for the events, and much more!
 
Access the Girls STEAM Ahead with NASA Program Cookbook

A white illustrated rectangle-shaped box with round corners lies against an illustrated blue background. In the white box are the words “NASA’S UNIVERSE OF LEARNING Girls STEAM Ahead with NASA” in purple. Below that are large words “Program Cookbook” in black. At the top of the white box, above the words, is a logo featuring the dark silhouette of a girl’s face looking up at a blue illustration of a galaxy. They are inside a purple-bordered circle with the text “Girls STEAM Ahead” in white.

 

 

James Webb Space Telescope STEM Toolkit

an undulating, translucent star-forming region in the Carina Nebula is shown in this Webb image, hued in ambers and blues; foreground stars with diffraction spikes can be seen, as can a speckling of background points of light through the cloudy nebula

One of the first full-color Webb images released: “Cosmic Cliffs” in the Carina Nebula (NIRCam Image). Read more about this image: https://bit.ly/3RwxGn

The James Webb Space Telescope will be a giant leap forward in our quest to understand the universe and its origins. Webb will examine every phase of cosmic history from the first luminous glows after the Big Bang, to the formation of galaxies, stars, and planets, to the evolution our own solar system. NASA has put together a Webb STEM Toolkit so that students can participate in the excitement of the James Webb Space Telescope too! Whether you’re a student ready to learn or an educator looking to #UnfoldtheUniverse with your students, this Toolkit contains wonderful resources, activities, videos, lesson plans, and more.

Access the James Webb Space Telescope STEM Toolkit

 

Explore Planetary Defense

gaspra.png

​The asteroid Gaspra as seen by the Galileo spacecraft en route to Jupiter. Credit: NASA.

Did you know that NASA has an entire office dedicated to defending our planet?!

Asteroids and comets have slammed into planets, moons, and asteroids throughout our solar system, including our Earth. NASA scientists and engineers are studying asteroids and comets, where they are, and how to deflect them from Earth in the future.

In fact, in November 2021, NASA launched the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) – the first-ever spacecraft designed to impact an asteroid as a test of technology. But don’t worry – DART’s target asteroid is NOT a threat to Earth. DART is targeting an asteroid system that’s a perfect testing ground to see if intentionally crashing a spacecraft into an asteroid is an effective way to change its course, should an Earth-threatening asteroid be discovered in the future.

Families and informal-educators can help learners discover how planetary scientists explore the characteristics of asteroids and comets using candy bars, dry ice, and more with these hands-on, interactive asteroid/planetary defense activities and resources from the Lunar & Planetary Institute.

Learn more