NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NASA is joining with other agencies and organizations in the United States during the month of October in celebrating Disability Awareness Month. The theme for this year's observance is "You're Hired! Success Knows No Limitations."

The NASA educational community recognizes the need for the development of educational resources for those who teach students with disabilities. Removing limitations and making scientific information available to all students is crucial, and NASA wants to help.

Listed below is a sampling of materials that NASA has to offer through its educational distributional services.

Teaching Modules and Videos for the Sight Impaired

The Central Operation of Resources for Educators (CORE) is the worldwide distribution center for NASA's educational audiovisual materials. CORE has combined some of its more popular materials into Subject Area Modules. Two of those modules are "History of Flight" for the elementary level and "Space Science" for the intermediate/middle level. The videos contained in these modules are available with descriptive audio for visually impaired students.

CORE also offers a list of open and closed captioned products for the hearing impaired. Topics include Space Science, Mathematics, NASA CONNECT™ shows for grades 6-8, NASA SCIence Files™ shows for grades 3-5, Destination Tomorrow™ videos for adults, the Liftoff to Learning video series and many other titles. Visit this section of CORE's Web site for the list of open and closed captioned products:
+ View site

CORE's collection of materials also includes videos that use descriptive audio for the sight impaired. Audience levels range from third grade to the adult learner. That collection is available at:
+ View site

CORE Home page
+ View site

Touch the Universe

Image to right: NASA strives to make scientific information available to all students. Credit: NASA

The wonders of the universe are being brought to the fingertips of visually impaired students in a new book titled "Touch the Universe: A NASA Braille Book of Astronomy." The 64-page book presents color images of planets, nebulae, stars and galaxies.

"Touch the Universe" takes the reader on a cosmic journey. It begins with an image of the Hubble Space Telescope orbiting Earth, and then traveling outward into the universe, showing objects such as Jupiter, the Ring Nebula, and the Hubble Deep Star Field North. Each image is embossed with lines, bumps and other textures. The raised patterns translate colors, shapes and other intricate details of the cosmic objects, allowing the students to feel what they cannot see. The book incorporates Braille and large-print descriptions for each of its 14 photographs to make it accessible to readers of most visual acuities.
+ Read more

NASA Educational Materials

NASA is committed to providing educationally valuable products to teachers of all students. Our online products go through a review process to guarantee their scientific accuracy as well as their educational appropriateness.

Image to right: NASA distributes educational materials through the NASA Educator Resource Center (ERC) Network. Credit: NASA

The Educational Materials area of the Educator section on the NASA Web site houses educator guides, lithographs, posters and other resources created for use in the classroom. These items were created with tools that allow their content to be accessible to students with disabilities.

Educational Materials
+ View site


NASA Educator Resource Centers

NASA distributes educational materials through the NASA Educator Resource Center (ERC) Network. The purpose of an ERC is to help teachers learn about and use NASA's educational resources. Personnel at ERCs located throughout the United States work with teachers to find out what they need and to share NASA's expertise. Teachers may contact their local ERC for information about NASA educational multimedia products that are available for those with disabilities.

Locate a NASA ERC
+ View site