Teacher Resources

Welcome to the Teacher Resources section of Windows to the Universe, where we try to collect resources of our own, as well as of partner organizations that we think you will be interested in. We regularly update this section with information about our web seminars, workshops and new classroom activities. We also provide links, below to several of our key resources, including motivational quotes, Earth science literacy frameworks, materials from our professional development workshops, our Teacher Opportunities calendar (Members Only), and a link to our free monthly Earth and Space Science Educator Newsletter. Windows to the Universe and its educational resources have been reviewed by NASA's Office of Space Sciences and Earth Science Enterprise, receiving exemplary status.

Teachers - Become an Educator Member of Windows to the Universe for special benefits and opportunities, including information about valuable special offers for classroom grants, professional development with travel and/or stipends, research grants, and more!

Windows to the Universe is now offering on-site professional development workshops for teachers. Find out more about this opportunity here. Information about our upcoming workshops and events at the NSTA conference in Indianapolis is available under 2012 on our Teacher Resources/Workshops page.

Our <a href="/teacher_resources/teach_glacier.html&dev=">Glaciers: Then and Now</a> activity is an effective tool for discovering changes in land-based glaciers. The activity includes a set of eight image pairs of Alaskan glaciers from 1899 to 2004. The activity is available in our <a href="/php/teacher_resources/activity.php#6">Classroom Activities section</a>, including a free html version and a pdf version free for <a href="/new_membership_services.html&dev=">Windows to the Universe members</a>. <a href="/store/product.php?productid=173&cat=27&page=1">Glaciers: Then and Now Classroom Activity Kits</a> are available in our <a href="/store/home.php">online store</a>, including the activity description, student worksheet, and eight laminated image pairs.<p><small><em></em></small></p>Our <a href="/teacher_resources/nitrogen_main.html&dev=">Traveling Nitrogen Game</a> makes a fun activity for students to learn about the <a href="/earth/Life/nitrogen_cycle.html&dev=">nitrogen cycle</a>. The activity includes a student worksheet ("Traveling Nitrogen Passport"), 11 reservoir signs, and stamps. The activity is available in our <a href="/php/teacher_resources/activity.php#8">Classroom Activities section</a>, including a free html version, and a pdf version free for <a href="/new_membership_services.html&dev=">Windows to the Universe subscribers</a>. The Traveling Nitrogen Game Kit is available in our <a href="/store/home.php">online store</a>, including laminated signs and a set of 11 dice.<p><small><em></em></small></p>Satellite observations of lake temperatures at many lakes around the world show that lakes are warming worldwide. Watch the NBC Learn video - <a href="/earth/changing_planet/warming_lakes_intro.html&dev=">Changing Planet: Warming Lakes</a> to find out more. In our <a href="/teacher_resources/warming_lakes.html&dev=">Changing Planet: The Warming of Our Large Lakes - Reasons for Concern</a> lesson plan students analyze and interpret temperature profile data from the Great Lakes. This is an image of the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika, Tanzania.<p><small><em> Image Courtesy of Marc Mayes</em></small></p>Looking for a way to organize your course materials? Windows to the Universe is now offering course support to K-12 teachers including hosted course pages, course calenders, student quizzes, and homework download/upload capability. Visit our <a href="http://www.windows2universe.org/membership.html">membership page</a> for more information! Windows to the Universe is a project of the <a href="http://www.nestanet.org">National Earth Science Teachers Association</a>.<p><small><em>Windows to the Universe </em></small></p>Teachers participating in one of our workshops at the NSTA National Conference on Science Education. Our workshops typically include numerous hands-on activities, to give participants a chance to get real experience with our materials.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of Windows to the Universe</em></small></p>Our <a href="/teacher_resources/teach_co2spew.html&dev=">CO2: How Much Do You Spew?</a> activity lets students calculate annual CO2 emissions for different hypothetical families with different lifestyles. The activity is available in our <a href="/php/teacher_resources/activity.php#6">Classroom Activities section</a>, including a free html version and a pdf version free for <a href="/new_membership_services.html&dev=">Windows to the Universe members</a>. <a href="/store/product.php?productid=243&cat=27&page=1">CO2: How Much Do You Spew? Classroom Activity Kits</a> are available in our <a href="/store/home.php">online store</a>, including the activity description, student worksheet, and ten laminated family scenarios.<p><small><em></em></small></p>

Explore Teacher Resources

Web Seminars for Educators

Windows to the Universe and NESTA offer occasional web seminars on a variety of topics in Earth ...Read more

Literacy Frameworks for Earth Science Education

A set of conceptual frameworks have been developed to describe what we should know ...Read more

Classroom Activities

Click the topics below to find hands-on activites for your classroom ...Read more

Windows to the Universe Journal

Record your thoughts and discoveries with this on-line Journal. Your students can use this tool too! ...Read more

Workshops & Presentations by Windows to the Universe Staff

Our staff conducts workshops and presentations at conferences and other venues for the professional ...Read more

Earth and Space Science Educator E-Newsletter

...Read more

Research Highlights

Windows to the Universe is now highlighting breaking science news and cool multimedia from ...Read more

Motivational Quotes

Everyone needs some inspiration sometime! Here are some quotes that you may enjoy, or find useful in your work, play, or everyday life. ...Read more

More about Teacher Resources

Historical Events

Full Earth and Space Science    History Calendar (Members only)

Teacher Opportunities

Full Teacher Events Calendar (Educator Members only)

Did you know?

Did you know that we have tons of resources for Elementary School Science?

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Earth and Space Science Concept of the Day

Do you know what this word or phrase means?

Ooids
xOoids : Small (< 2 mm), spheroidal, layered sedimentary grains, usually composed of calcium carbonate, but sometimes made up of iron- or phosphate-based minerals.

Click on the word to find out!

Research Highlights

Gulf Oil Spill: Mississippi River Hydrology May Help Reduce Oil Onshore

The Gulf of Mexico: what role will the Mississippi River play in oil washing ashore and into delta wetlands? One of the spill's greatest environmental threats is to Louisiana's wetlands, scientists believe....Read more


Windows to the Universe, a project of the National Earth Science Teachers Association, is sponsored in part is sponsored in part through grants from federal agencies (NASA and NOAA), and partnerships with affiliated organizations, including the American Geophysical Union, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Earth System Information Partnership, the American Meteorological Society, the National Center for Science Education, and TERC. The American Geophysical Union and the American Geosciences Institute are Windows to the Universe Founding Partners. NESTA welcomes new Institutional Affiliates in support of our ongoing programs, as well as collaborations on new projects. Contact NESTA for more information. NASA ESIP NCSE HHMI AGU AGI AMS NOAA