This Week's Teachable Moment Twofer
The next couple days are full of opportunities to turn space exploration events into teachable moments for students. Make it happen with these resources and activities from the Education Office at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
First up is Star Wars Day on Friday, May 4. (Or as fans like to say, "May the fourth be with you.") While the movies are science fiction, they do feature some very real technology that's been used to propel NASA spacecraft to other worlds – and it makes for a great high-school lesson in Newton's Laws. It's also the perfect time to awaken students in all grades to lessons in forces and motion. Explore the links below to get started.
- Teachable Moment: Here's how to turn a Star Wars staple into a real-world lesson in Newton's Laws.
- May the Fourth Lessons: Celebrate Star Wars Day with these standards-aligned lessons in motion and forces for grades K-12.
After learning about forces on May the 4th, students might be able to see them in action the very next day! NASA's next mission to Mars is scheduled to launch as early as 4:05 a.m. on May 5. The Central California liftoff means that viewers across much of the state will likely be able to see the launch from home, but people elsewhere or those with obscured views can also watch it on NASA TV. In addition to the launch, the mission itself, which is designed to reveal Mars' inner workings and provide a window into how other rocky planets formed, offers a host of real-world STEM learning opportunities. Find out more at the links below.
- Teachable Moment: What is NASA InSight and what can it teach students about STEM?
- Mars Lessons: Explore a collection of standards-aligned lessons for K-12 all about the Red Planet.
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