| What is The Space Place website all about? |
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The bare beginnings of the Space Place appeared online in February 1998. It was started as an education and public outreach project of NASA's New Millennium Program, which continues to be its primary supporter. Its target audience is elementary school age kids. We felt it was important to reach this young audience with the message that science and technology and learning about space are fun, understandable, and within their grasp. We designed it with a very kid-friendly "by kids, for kids" look and feel. It is very modular, so visitors can pick and choose different projects or activities that are self-contained. |
| Why is there a need for NASA to have a children's website? |
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Not many sites about space science and technology are written specifically for kids. This one is and does not link out to other sites that are not written for kids. In addition, it is non-commercial, thus avoiding the sensory overload of flashing advertisements and numerous irrelevant popup windows. |
| What makes this website unique as a science and technology site for children? |
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It leads the visitor one small step at a time through subjects that people might consider too difficult for a lay person, let alone a child. Challenging subjects such as the electromagnetic spectrum, conservation of momentum, orbits, gravitational waves, tidal forces, binary and hexadecimal notation, and interferometry are treated simply and concisely, with everyday analogies and metaphors, concrete examples, and compelling illustrations. |
| What kinds of activities are on The Space Place? |
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Some are hands-on projects. These projects either result in a tangible product, like our "galactic mobile" or model planet Saturn, or offer science demonstrations kids can do with ordinary materials. Some activities are interactive games and puzzles. Some are animations or interactive demonstrations of science and technology concepts. Then there are "Amazing Facts" about space science and technology. "Friends Share" includes pictures, poems, and news sent to us by our readers and community partners. All the activities and amazing facts are also cross-indexed by "Cool Subjects," reflecting our favorite science and technology topics. |
| How responsive has the public been to the site? |
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The number of visitors per month has grown continuously since we first went online. We are now (2004) receiving around 300,000 visits per month. Also, the site has won quite a number of website awards. We regularly receive appreciative e-mail messages from teachers, parents, and even the kids themselves. Former California Governor Gray Davis, declared January 2001 as Space Education Month, favorably citing NASA's New Millennium Program and The Space Place website in his written proclamation. |
| How can teachers use this site in their instruction? |
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For one thing, they can use the "Projects" activities as homework assignments. Other activities they could print and use as reading assignments. The child could do an interactive game or demonstration on the computer, read the accompanying text, then tell the other children in the class about what they learned. The "Teacher's Corner" includes links to printable pictures for the classroom, as well as a collection of classroom activity articles previously published by the International Technology Education Association (ITEA). And, not least, the Space Place New Millennium Calendar includes space- and science-related anniversaries as well as whimsical "holidays," all linked to relevant activities and fun facts on the Website. Each calendar month is a printable Adobe Acrobat file. The ITEA Standards for Technological Literacy were consulted in developing all the articles and activities on the website. |
| Why was The Space Place translated into Spanish? |
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The 2000 census revealed that over 27 million Americans speak Spanish as their first language. Of those, 13 million state that they do not speak English very well. NASA wants to reach as many Americans as possible with information about its missions and what it is learning about science and space, and the new technologies it is helping to develop. While school children in the U.S. need to learn English, the Spanish version of The Space Place may help initiate their interest in space science and technology by giving them the message that these subjects are for everyone, not just the majority English-speaking groups. Also, the Spanish site may help involve the non-English-speaking parents of these youngsters in their new interest in space. |
| When did the Spanish version of The Space Place website go online and who did the translation? |
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It debuted in November 2001. The translation was contracted to the consulting firm INAWORD. |
