Athena Project
The Athena Project is a NASA-funded education and public outreach effort in
Washington State led
by Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC). The
Project's Web site provides instructional material, lesson plans, and activities
on topics in the earth and space sciences. Activities frequently require the
use of real data. The site includes a space and astronomy curriculum with good
information and activities on the Sun, the Sun-Earth connection, the solar system,
and the individual planets.
Exploration of the Earth's Magnetosphere
A thorough tutorial on the Earth's magnetosphere by D. P. Stern and M.
Peredo. This is an excellent resource for undergraduates, science teachers, and
advanced high school physics students. Includes interesting information
about the history of space physics research. Provides a useful glossary, with
hyperlinked definitions in the text. Amply illustrated. The authors are both space
physicists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
International Solar Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) Web Site
This is the home page for the NASA ISTP program. It includes a public
outreach page that has lots of good information about geospace,
the scientists who study it, and the ISTP spacecraft missions.
Provides resources for students and
teachers.
Oulu Space Physics Textbook
A project of the Space Research Group at the University
of Oulu in Finland, this extensive on-line textbook
addresses the following topics:
basic plasma physics; the Sun and interplanetary medium, the
Earth's magnetosphere and ionosphere; coupling processes; phenomena
such as the aurora, cosmic rays, and space weather; and space
instrumentation and analysis techniques.
A useful resource, particularly for undergraduates. The
presentation is probably a bit too technical for a general
audience. The URL for the Oulu textbook homepage is
Science Education Gateway (SEGway)
SEGway is a NASA-funded education and public outreach effort led by the
University of California at Berkeley. The SEGway site provides lesson plans and
some self-guided lessons on a number of topics in earth and space science,
including the aurora, sunspots, the electromagnetic spectrum, astronomical
observation at non-visible wavelengths, and many more. A wonderful resource
for teachers to locate classroom activities for
use in their K-12 classrooms.
The Space Science Education/Public Outreach Site of NASA's Office of Space Science
A directory of education and public outreach sites prepared by NASA's Office of
Space Science.
Space Science Institute
The Space Science Institute (SSI) web site contains information on a
variety of topics of interest to researchers, educators, and the
general public, including: space weather, travelling exhibits (Electric
Space, Marsquest), downloadable curricula, and education workshops for
scientists. SSI is a non-profit corporation whose mission is to improve
communication among
scientists, educators, and the general public
by combining
space science research with science education.
Space Science News
An attractive, user-friendly on-line "newspaper" sponsored by the Space
Sciences Laboratory at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. Every
"issue" contains several recent headline stories on topics in space
physics, astrophysics, and earth science. The stories are clearly
written, provide good background information, and are amply illustrated
with colorful and well-chosen graphics (including movies and
animation). Links to many other related sites, including a featured
"site of the day," are provided.
The Sun-Earth Connection Education Forum
The education and public outreach site for NASA's Sun-Earth Connection theme,
developed jointly by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and the Space Science
Laboratory of the University of California at Berkeley. The site offers a tutorial
on the Sun-Earth Connection, links to space science mission pages, and a very
nice "resource index" with links to other Web sites.
Windows to the Universe
"Windows to the Universe" is an innovative, graphics-rich
Web site offering a nearly comprehensive treatment of
the Earth and Space Sciences at three levels of content,
corresponding to upper elementary, middle, and high school levels.
The site also features interdisciplinary arts and humanities content relevant
to the scientific topics. A
supplementary CD is available.
"Windows" was developed at the University of Michigan with
NASA funding.