This resource highlights a few of the many women who have impacted STEM fields- through important explorations, discoveries and/or contributions. It includes first-hand stories, a resource guide, and downloadable posters and postcards.

Women connected with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory share their personal career motivations and career advice. Their stories, along with their job descriptions, illustrate the many important ways that women contribute to the pursuit of... (View More) understanding the Universe through high-energy astrophysics. (View Less)

Students will use educational materials from NASA's Cosmic Times to create their own mash-up (an image, audio or video created by combining two or more sources of media into a new work). This lesson offers the opportunity to use media mash-up... (View More) technology, to acquire knowledge through differentiated instruction, and for students to present their knowledge, ideas and individual perspectives. The lesson includes links to handouts, procedures, and introductory mash-up videos. (View Less)

This online Flash interactive simulates the process of discovering new exoplanets using the transit method. Learners explore a simulated star field, record data, make measurements and do calculations to discover new planets. Instructional videos and... (View More) guides are included. (View Less)

This is a two-page lithograph featuring the Cepheid Variable Star RS Puppis, an example of a special class of bright pulsating stars whose light and energy outputs vary over a set period of time. The text on the lithograph explains the historic... (View More) importance of Cepheid variable stars as distance markers. The accompanying classroom activity In Search of … Cepheid Variable Stars is a curriculum support tool designed for use as an introductory inquiry activity. During the classroom activity, students use the images and text on this lithograph to generate questions about Cepheid variable stars. They will conduct research to answer their questions and will create a presentation to demonstrate their understanding of the material, providing supporting evidence from their research. (View Less)

This image from the Hubble Space Telescope reveals a panorama of turbulent star birth, located close enough to Earth that Hubble can resolve individual stars. The star factory resides 170,000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small... (View More) satellite galaxy of our Milky Way. Included are suggestions for using this in the classroom and an introductory activity in which students use the images and text on this lithograph to generate questions, and research answers, about star formation. (View Less)

This news story describes the search for Pluto which began in the early 1900s and the subsequent discovery of its moon system. The text describes how the Hubble Space Telescope was used to discover Pluto's other moons. Star Witness News is a series... (View More) of articles, written for students, that are inspired by Hubble Space Telescope press releases. Supplemental education materials include background information, vocabulary, and discussion questions and answers. Common Core Standards for English Language Arts are also identified. (View Less)

Students will use the law of reflection to reflect a laser beam off multiple mirrors to hit a sticker in a shoebox. Since X-ray telescopes must use grazing angles to collect X-rays, students will design layouts with the largest possible angles of... (View More) reflection. This activity is from the NuSTAR Educators Guide: X-Rays on Earth and from Space, which focuses on the science and engineering design of NASA's NuSTAR mission. The guide includes a standards matrix, assessment rubrics, instructor background materials, and student handouts. (View Less)

Students participate in a series of activities to discover how astronomers use computers to create images and understand data. No programming experience is required; students will use pencilcode.net to complete such activities as creating a color,... (View More) exploring filters and color-shifting, and creating individual images of star-forming regions. These activities demonstrate a real world application of science, technology and art. (View Less)

Students are introduced to the purposes, benefits and challenges of citizen science projects. Examples of historical and current projects are presented, and evidence is provided showing why human scientific analysis is sometimes better than computer... (View More) analysis. Working in groups, students compare, contrast, and analyze four current citizen science projects. This lesson is part of the Planet Hunters curriculum, but can be done independently. (View Less)