Using NASA Space Data in K-12 Education

This talk will discuss the use of teacher workshops and scientist visits to classrooms to enhance science education.

A large amount of solar data is available on the web in almost real time. This data includes everything from white light images showing sunspots, to magnetic field measurements, to coronal images. There are also many lesson plans and classroom activities available on the web to help teachers use this data. The ability to access and use real time solar data from space provides excellent stimulation in science , real science, for both students and teachers. It also gives the teachers and students a better understanding of what real science is about. No, there is not a clean cut answer at the back of the book.

Just having the material available on the web is insufficient for ensuring its proper use, or even its use at all. Teacher workshops are an important component of getting this material used. NASA's Living With A Star (LWS) program has been running teacher workshops for several years to enhance the teaching of space weather in our schools. Some aspects of this program, how you as a teacher can participate, and how material is presented will be discussed.