In this lab activity, students use simulation results and data available through the NASA Community Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC) to explore the structure of the solar wind, its variation through the heliosphere. Participants will become... (View More) familiar with aspects of the solar wind simulations: variables involved, the shape of the simulation volume, and the accepted methods for displaying those results. It was designed for graduate students doing research, but is also valuable for an undergraduate space science course or as an application in a physics course. The activity is designed for students to work in groups of 3 or 4 sharing a computer and a large work space. The instructors guide includes a discussion of lab goals, a set of concept questions, responses to student guide questions, and some student misconceptions. (View Less)

This is an online Flash-based interactive tool kit that provides access to illustrations, visualizations, videos, and near-real time images of the Sun from a variety of NASA spacecraft missions. Learners can access this information to supplement... (View More) other materials related to the Sun and heliophysics. (View Less)

This is a resource about the Sun and its effects on the rest of the Solar System. Learners will watch movie clips and read a guidebook of information about space weather, solar variability, the heliosphere, Earth’s magnetosphere and upper... (View More) atmosphere, as well as the solar mysteries that scientists are still studying. (View Less)

This fulldome and flat-screen planetarium show follows the creation of NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer spacecraft, giving audiences an in-depth look at the mission and how IBEX is collecting high-speed atoms to create a map of the boundary of... (View More) our Solar System. Narrated by two inquisitive teenagers, audiences will hear from the scientists and engineers that developed the IBEX mission and created the spacecraft, and get the latest updates on the mission's discoveries. The show runs 28 minutes in length and incorporates animation, scientific visualization, and video elements. It is available to museums, planetariums, and other informal and formal education venues with no licensing fee. (View Less)

This is an instruction manual for the Sudden Ionosphere Disturbance, or SID, instrument and program. The Stanford Solar Center's Space Weather Monitor program is an education project to build and distribute inexpensive ionospheric monitors to... (View More) students around the world. The monitors detect solar flares and other disturbances in Earth's ionosphere. Special materials are required, including the SID monitor from the Stanford Solar Center, a computer with Internet, and materials for making an antenna. Please note, this is the manual for setting up and installing the SID instrument and does not include specific lessons for learners. (View Less)

This is a book containing over 200 problems spanning over 70 specific topic areas covered in a typical Algebra II course. Learners can encounter a selection of application problems featuring astronomy, earth science and space exploration, often with... (View More) more than one example in a specific category. Learners will use mathematics to explore science topics related to a wide variety of NASA science and space exploration endeavors. Each problem or problem set is introduced with a brief paragraph about the underlying science, written in a simplified, non-technical jargon where possible. Problems are often presented as a multi-step or multi-part activities. This book can be found on the Space Math@NASA website. (View Less)

This is a booklet containing 37 space science mathematical problems, several of which use authentic science data. The problems involve math skills such as unit conversions, geometry, trigonometry, algebra, graph analysis, vectors, scientific... (View More) notation, and many others. Learners will use mathematics to explore science topics related to Earth's magnetic field, space weather, the Sun, and other related concepts. This booklet can be found on the Space Math@NASA website. (View Less)

This is an activity about how the Sun can affect the Earth's atmosphere, specifically the ionosphere. Learners will use real data from a Sudden Ionosphere Disturbance Monitor, or SID Monitor, to identify the signatures in the graphed data that can... (View More) be used to determine the times of sunrise and sunset. Although the SID monitors are designed to detect SIDs caused by solar flares, they also detect the normal influence of solar X-rays and UV light during the day as well as cosmic rays at nighttime. There is a distinct shape to a 24-hour SID data graph, with unique shapes, or signatures, of the graph appearing at sunrise and sunset.This activity is part of the Research with Space Weather Monitor Data educators guide. Use of and access to a Stanford Solar Center SID monitor and the internet is encouraged but not required. Locations without a SID monitor can use sample data provided in the educators guide. (View Less)