This is an assessment activity for the The Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation (CRaTER) educational kit. Learners will make a poster that explains possible origins of cosmic rays, how they affect people, and what protects us here on... (View More) Earth. Alternately, they will make a poster describing CRaTER’s goal and how it works. (View Less)

This set of two activities are about Saturn's largest moon, Titan. Learners will listen to a narrative "told" by the Huygens probe, entitled Memoirs of a Spacecraft. Next, students will listen to some of the findngs and express those findings by... (View More) creating their own drawing. Finally they will pretend to be a spacecraft and write a story, poem or song about their journey to Titan. Includes a glossary, information for families, and guidance for deepening the science. This is lesson 6 of 8 in the Jewel of the Solar System: From Out-of-School to Outer Space an adaptation for afterschool programs of the Cassini-Huygens educational product Reading, Writing, and Rings. (View Less)

This is a lesson about landers and robotic components. Learners will design and built a prototype robot. This is lesson 14 of 16 in the MarsBots learning module. This lesson is adapted from "Edible Mars Spacecraft," by Amalia Plummer and Tricia... (View More) Dieck, which was adapted from Jean Settle's "Edible Rockets" and "Edible Space Stations" activities. (View Less)

This is a lesson about radiation and the use of the scientific method to solve problems of too much radiation. Learners will build snow goggles similar to those used by the Inuit (designed to block unwanted light, while increasing the viewer’s... (View More) ability to see in a bright region) to understand some of the engineering challenges encountered while protecting the solar cells on the Mercury MESSENGER. This is Lesson 2 of 4 at the middle level in the module, Staying Cool. (View Less)

In this concluding activity, learners will use notes from an earlier lesson to write a nonfiction piece about Saturn or Cassini. These final projects provide a way for children with varying learning styles to consolidate and share their learning.... (View More) This is lesson 12 of 12 in the Mission to Saturn Educators Guide, Reading Writing Rings, for grades 3-4. (View Less)

This is a lesson about spacecraft design. Learners will hear the NASA solutions to the problems they wrote about lesson 6. They will then write a nonfiction piece comparing their spacecraft to Cassini, and share their writing with the class. This... (View More) introduction to design prepares students for the task of trying to design a working model of a probe to land on Saturn’s moon, Titan. This is lesson 7 of 12 in the Mission to Saturn Educators Guide, Reading Writing Rings, for grades 3-4. (View Less)

This is an article about detecting gravitational waves. Learners can read about how the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) is detecting gravitational waves. An activity is included about how to build a mini-LISA and use it to explore the... (View More) technology behind the instrument. (View Less)