Adapting STEM Lessons for Students with Disabilities Using My NASA Data

In early May 2022, NASA released a new instructional video for educators featuring the My NASA Data “Exploring Sea Level Rise with Others” lesson plan and showing strategies for engaging all students in data analysis. This new video is part of the Innovative Differentiated Exploration Activities in Space Science (IDEAS) program through Space Grant consortia from North Carolina, South Carolina, and North Dakota, an effort towards integrating accessible and inclusive space science activities for students with disabilities (specifically, students who are blind or low vision, hearing impaired, and/or nonverbal).

The My NASA Data lesson featured in the video is a climate change resource for students in grades 6-12 and highlights adaptations for students with disabilities. The video demonstrates how to use and explore NASA data visualizations with My NASA Data’s Data Literacy Cube resources, which are designed to support multilingual learners. The video also models differentiation methods for making the lesson more fully accessible to students who may be blind or have low-vision.

Access the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jnQwdzGoY8

My NASA Data (https://mynasadata.larc.nasa.gov/) provides educational tools and resources for students from grades 3-12. These resources may be used to support data analysis and interpretation learning for elementary, middle, and high school levels in the forms of quick engagements with NASA data, as well as longer, more sustained lessons focused on data analysis and interpretation. My NASA Data is made possible in part by support from the NASA Science Activation GLOBE Mission Earth Project (Award No. NNX16AC54A.)