It’s 3.14, also known as March 14, and more affectionately known as Pi Day! Celebrate by testing your mathematical skills with illustrated planetary puzzlers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Visit the site to find this year’s challenge, get teacher resources, and learn more about pi. Answers will be posted on Friday, March 15. | | Make a STEM Connection: Vernal Equinox | | The vernal equinox on Tuesday, March 19, officially marks the start of astronomical spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Make a classroom connection to this special spot in Earth's yearly trip around the Sun with these STEM resources. | | Online Learning Opportunities | | Audience: Middle and high school educators, and professors teaching first-year college students Next Event Date: Saturday, March 16, at 1 p.m. EDT NASA’s Heliophysics Education Activation Team and the American Association of Physics Teachers have put together a free, monthly, virtual workshop series for high school and undergraduate-level introductory physics teachers. Each workshop session will provide an astrophysics mini-lecture, a small group engagement with the core activity, and discussion time to connect with like-minded educators. Click here for a list of upcoming workshop topics and dates. | | Audience: Middle and high school math and science educators Event Date: Tuesday, March 19, at 7 p.m. EDT The Sun is 93 million miles away, but we experience it daily. What we experience depends in part on the Sun’s activity. Join NASA’s Heliophysics Education Activation Team and Dr. Sten Odenwald to explore standards-aligned mathematics activities relating to coronal mass ejections, sunspot cycles, solar flares, and more. Click here to register to attend. | | Audience: Formal and informal educators, parents, and caregivers Webinar Date: Wednesday, March 20, at 2 p.m. EDT Join the GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) program’s Mission Mosquito and Land Cover team for a professional development webinar to explore how open science collaboration tools empower students to tackle real-world challenges alongside a worldwide network of researchers. Click here to register to attend. | | Audience: Formal and informal educators Webinar Date: Wednesday, March 20, at 4 p.m. EDT Join the NASA Heliophysics Education Activation Team for a one-hour webinar to learn how to engage audiences with activities for the total solar eclipse on Monday, April 8. Explore activities for formal and informal settings, tabletop activities for outreach events, and how-to videos with tips and tricks for engaging audiences. Participants will also receive talking points for effectively communicating solar eclipse science and heliophysics concepts to a broad audience. Click here to register to attend. | | Are You Up for a Challenge? | | Audience: Educators, students, and families Event Dates: Friday, March 15 – Monday, April 15
The Sun drives many processes in Earth’s atmosphere. Changes in heat lead to changes in the clouds, especially the types of clouds. To study these changes, we need observations at different times over the course of hours, days, weeks, months, and years from around the globe. The GLOBE Eclipse Challenge: Clouds and Our Solar-Powered Earth seeks cloud observations from participants worldwide to study changes in the atmosphere as the Sun rises and sets. Those in the path of the solar eclipse on Monday, April 8, are challenged to take multiple observations of the sky before and after maximum eclipse. | | Audience: Students ages 13-18 Entry Deadline: April 30 How can drones and advanced technologies improve responses to natural disasters? Students are invited to help NASA envision new ways to use uncrewed aerial vehicles to help reduce natural disaster risks, help mitigate the situation during a natural disaster, and/or help rebuild after a natural disaster has occurred. Teams of two-four participants are challenged to build a presentation for NASA experts to explain how their drone technology helps in one or all three of these areas. Selected teams will have an opportunity to chat with a NASA expert about how they contribute to current aeronautics challenges. Selected designs may also be shared on NASA social media platforms and more. | | Higher Education Opportunity | | Audience: Accredited higher education institutions in the U.S. Application Deadline: April 30 at 5 p.m. EDT NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate is seeking proposals from accredited U.S. institutions for research training grants to begin the academic year. This opportunity is designed to support independently conceived research projects by highly qualified graduate students, in disciplines needed to help advance NASA’s mission, thus affording these students the opportunity to directly contribute to advancements in STEM-related areas of study. AAVP fellowship opportunities are focused on innovation and the generation of measurable research results that contribute to NASA’s current and future science and technology goals. | | Opportunities With Our Partners | | Online Event Date: Thursday, March 21 | | Application Deadline: June 2 | | |
Are you looking for NASA STEM materials to support your curriculum?
Find NASA science resources for your classroom. The NASA Science Activation (SciAct) program connects diverse learners of all ages with science in ways that activate minds and promote a deeper understanding of our world and beyond. https://science.nasa.gov/learn
Check out the ‘Explore NASA Science’ website! Science starts with questions, leading to discoveries. Visit science.nasa.gov. To view the site in Spanish, visit ciencia.nasa.gov. | | Visit NASA STEM Engagement on the Web: | | | | | | |
