Astrobiology Science and Technology for Exploring Planets (ASTEP)

This new web interactive from NASA's Cassini mission features dazzling new imagery of Saturn's moon Enceladus. It details the discovery of the plumes of ice particles and water vapor erupting from the surface and extending hundreds of kilometers into space. These plumes have put Enceladus on the map as an object of astrobiological study; the Cassini spacecraft just completed a specialized fly-through to get a closer look.

Exploring Deep Subsurface Life Workbook and DVD teaching materials focus on research sites at Harmony Gold Mine in South Africa, and Lupin Gold Mine and High Lake Mine in Nunavut Territory, Canada. The workbook¹s imagery invites the audience into the mine sites, and the lessons correspond to the astrobiology research carried out in the deep subsurface. The video and animation materials support and compliment the lessons in the workbook and introduce the the scientists. The materials are available for download at http://www.indiana.edu/~deeplife/.

NAI Teams Offer Summer Workshops for Educators in Astrobiology

Every summer, NAI teams and others host hands-on, in-the-field, in-the-lab workshops for educators. The workshops feature cutting edge astrobiology research delivered by astrobiology scientists and education professionals, as well as inquiry- and standards-based activities ready for your classroom.

Summer 2008 Workshops for Teachers in Astrobiology:

Astrobiology Summer Science Experience for Teachers (ASSET)

Produced by: SETI Institute

Application Deadline: February 15th

Workshop Dates: 27 July - 2 August, 2008

Workshop Location: San Francisco Bay Area

Website: http://www.seti.org/asset/


Astrobiology Laboratory Institute for Instructors (ALI'I)

Produced by: UH Institute for Astronomy

Application Deadline: March 28th

Workshop Dates: 13-18 July, 2008

Workshop Location: Honolulu, HI

Website: http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/UHNAI/epo/alii.htm


Earth's History: Interactions between Life and the Environment

Produced by: Penn State

Application Deadline: ongoing

Workshops Dates: 22-27 June, 2008

Workshop Location: Penn State University

Website: http://teachscience.psu.edu/earths_history.html


Evolution: How Important Is It to a Good Science Education

Produced by: Penn State

Application Deadline: ongoing

Workshops Dates: 13-18 July, 2008

Workshop Location: Penn State University

Website: http://teachscience.psu.edu/evolution.html


Floods and Flows: Exploring Mars Geology on Earth

Produced by: Lunar and Planetary Science Institute

Application Deadline: April 7th

Workshops Dates: 13-19 July, 2008

Workshop Location: Missoula, MT

Website: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/fieldtrips/2008/floods20081st.shtml

Living in the Microbial World

Produced by the Marine Biological Laboratory

Application Deadline: TBA

Workshops Dates: TBA

Workshop Location: Woods Hole, MA

Website: http://www.mbl.edu/education/courses/other_programs/teachers.html

Teachers, are you ready for a week-long course on astrobiology this summer? If so, check out this Space.com article on ASSET, the SETI Institute's Astrobiology Summer Science Experience for Teachers. It includes information on the workshop and how to apply. http://www.space.com/searchforlife/080110-seti-asset.html

"Discover the Microbes Within!" is a four-day workshop designed for high school biology educators in an effort to modernize biology labs and lesson plans with discovery-based labs, biotechnology, and symbiosis. This integrative lab series is founded on the principle that students want to learn science the way science is done. In so doing, students enhance their understanding of biology and scientific inquiry while collecting reliable data new to the scientific community. The workshop will be held at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA, April 10-13, 2008. For more information and application materials, go to: http://www.mbl.edu/education/courses/other_programs/wolbachia.html

Yellowstone research conducted by astrobiologists from NAI's new Montana State Team is highlighted in National Geographic's Wild Chronicles television program.
The episode's footage was excerpted from the 30-minute film Invisible Yellowstone, produced by MSU's Thermal Biology Institute and MSU's Science and Natural History filmmaking program. The episode can be previewed by visiting the TBI webpage, http://www.tbi.montana.edu/media/movieclips.html, and selecting #2 TBI Wild Chronicles. It is also available via DVD by contacting Susan Kelly at susank@montana.edu.

Lerner Publishing Group has just released a new "Cool Science" title for 4-8th grade readers called "Astrobiology." From early imaginings about life on the Moon to modern observations of Mars, Europa, and Titan, this book gives an easy to follow, historical context for the search for life elsewhere. http://tinyurl.com/38ase7

The book's author, "Dr. Fred" Bortz, engages students directly through school visits and other events. Learn more at his website: http://www.fredbortz.com/

2007-2008 is the International Polar Year! NASA is helping to celebrate by organizing information, multimedia, and other resources about polar research for teachers, scientists, and the public. Learn about life in snow and ice at Earth's poles, atmospheric and climate studies, and missions exploring the polar regions of other planets. http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/IPY/atmosphere/index.html

"IMAGINE...an electronic page for each species of organism on Earth available everywhere by single access on command." -EO Wilson

Well, it's here...in the early stages at least. The Encyclopedia of Life (http://www.eol.org), an unprecedented global biodiversity initiative launched on May 9th, will document all 1.8 million named species of animals, plants, and other forms of life on Earth. For the first time in the history of the planet, scientists, students, and citizens will have multi-media access to all known living species, even those that have just been discovered. A video of the project is available on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NwfGA4cxJQ). Expect the key components to be available in 2008. This promises to be a phenomenal teahcing tool, so stay tuned...

New imagery and data from NASA’s Cassini-Huygens mission have “lifted the veil” enshrouding Saturn’s moon Titan, revealing what lies beneath its dense atmosphere. Explore this visually stunning, interactive, multimedia web feature for an overview of the mission, a comparison of Earth and Titan, a 3D globe of Titan, and the latest images from Cassini.

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/features/feature20070129.cfm

This traveling exhibit from the Space Science Institute in Boulder, CO has released its new website: http://www.alienearths.org/exhibit/index.html. Filled with information about the exhibit's four main areas: Are We Alone? Star and Planet Formation, Planet Quest, and Search for Life, the new website is a great resource by itself or in conjunction with plans to visit the exhibit. Look especially in the Education Program and Plan Your Visit sections of the site to find pre- and post-visit activities and information on upcoming workshops.

NAI scientists and their international partners were featured in a new documentary called "Looking for Life" which premiered recently on both PBS and NASA-TV. The program highlights cutting edge field work in the arid Western Australian desert, an acidic river in Spain, high altitude lakes in the Bolivian Andes, and the permafrost within an old gold mine in the Canadian Arctic where astrobiologists are characterizing the unique habitats and survival mechanisms of life on Earth, and laying the groundwork for the search for life on other planets. For more information about the program, see http://passporttoknowledge.com/life/. Please contact Daniella Scalice at NAI if you are interested in using this video in your classroom - dscalice@mail.arc.nasa.gov.

Microbes at NASA is a website loaded with fantastic teaching tools for educators about microbial mats and why NASA is interested in them. Teachers, explore the site for a photo gallery, interactive web features in which your students can conduct remote experiments on a real microbial mat in a NASA laboratory, numerous classroom activities, and a 7 minute animated film taking you for a ride through a microbial mat (teacher guide included).

http://microbes.arc.nasa.gov

If you could design your own planet, would it be habitable? Through NASA's Astro-Venture Web site, students can find out. AstroVenture has added two new modules to complete its interactive educational package which engages students in astrobiology. NAI Central and NAI's Virtual Planetary Laboratory Team helped support this product.

http://astroventure.arc.nasa.gov/

This new resource guide from the American Museum of Natural History brings astrobiology activities to the afterschool arena. As part of an 18 month project, AMNH collected NASA materials originally developed for the formal education setting, and adapted them for use in afterschool programs for participants aged 5-12. Members of NAI's NASA Ames Research Center Lead Team served as science advisors to the guide.

http://nai.arc.nasa.gov/library/downloads/AMNHafterschool.pdf

New from NASA PlanetQuest, Alien Safari can be used in your classrooms or informal education settings to help kids discover some of the most extreme organisms on our planet, and find out what they are telling astrobiologists about the search for life beyond Earth.

http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/AlienSafari_launch_page.html

Microbial Life is a new, freely accessible digital library dedicated to the diversity, ecology, and evolution of the microbial world. Engage students with hands-on activities and other curriculum-based resources that cover topics such as astrobiology, bioinformatics, extremophiles, and the microbes of marine environments.

http://microbial.life.mbl.edu/

NAI's team at NASA Ames Research Center has created Chapter 4 of the Yellowstone Resources and Issues Guide which tells all about thermophiles, their habitats in the Park, and their relationship to both the history of life on Earth, and the search for life elsewhere. The Guide is used to train Park naturalists and rangers, and it can also serve as a valuable resource when teaching about extremophiles and astrobiology in the classroom.

Download your copy at: http://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/upload/ri07ch4_bb.pdf

Astrobiology: An Integrated Science Approach is a full-year, inquiry-based, integrated science high school curriculum offered from TERC. It will be available on July 1, 2005, with special pricing for pre-publication orders.

Link: http://astrobio.terc.edu/

With gorgeous graphics, supporting background reading, and three inquiry- and standards-based, field tested activities, this poster is a great addition to any middle or high school classroom& It specifically explores the connection between extreme environments on Earth, and potentially habitable environments elsewhere in the Solar System.

http://nai.arc.nasa.gov/poster/

This booklet, originally produced by NAI in 2000 and updated in 2007, contains five inquiry- and standards-based classroom activities for grades 5-8 and three math extensions spanning topics from "Defining Life," to "Determining the Chances of Extraterrestrial Life." Download the booklet here:

http://nai.arc.nasa.gov/library/downloads/Astrobiology-Educator-Guide-2007.pdf (5.3MB)

One of the activities, "What Makes a World Habitable?" utilizes Habitability Cards to investigate the possibility of life elsewhere in the Solar System. These cards are available as part of the whole document, and as a separate file downloadable here:

http://nai.nasa.gov/habitabilitycards.pdf

The study of microbial communities is essential if we are to understand and manage the world around us, and such studies prepare us for the exploration for life on other planets. This site has images of microbes, classification schemes, descriptions of organisms, talks and other educational resources to improve awareness of the biodiversity of our microbial partners.

http://www.mbl.edu/microscope

Voyages Through Time is an integrated science curriculum for ninth or tenth grade based on the theme of evolution and delivered on CD-ROM. It's six modules span the breadth of astrobiology research, from cosmic evolution through the evolution of life, and beyond.

http://www.voyagesthroughtime.org/