NASA's BEST Students Beginning Engineering, Science and Technology NASA needs engineers, and kids are natural explorers. NASA's BEST Students encourages students of all ages to engage in engineering and exploration activities. Website Contents Upcoming Events NASA's BEST Activities (Curriculum): Curriculum guides for engineering clubs for grades K-2, 3-5 and 6-8. Electronic Professional Development: help getting started for formal and informal educators BEST Team Activities: What the BEST Team has been up to lately. Fundamentals of Lunar Exploration: The Search for Lunar Ice Link to the website for robotic missions for middle and high school students and professional development for educators. Contact Information

Upcoming Events

• BEST Professional Development for teachers in Las Cruces, NM, to be held at New Mexico State University, in conjunction with the International year of Astronomy, December 7, 2009.
• Teacher Open House Presentation, to be held at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, in Portland, OR, to promote upcoming BEST Professional Development, February 2, 2010.
• FLEX Professional Development, for teachers at the Saint Michael School, in Hudson, MA. This school is currently implementing the BEST curriculum. They started it as an after-school club, but found that the student (and teacher/parent) interest level was so high, they brought it into the school day curriculum! The FLEX training is scheduled for February 4-7, 2010.
• BEST Professional Development for teachers in the Portland area, to be held at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, in Portland, OR, February 26-28, 2010.
• BEST Professional Development for teachers in Idaho, to be held at the North Idaho Discovery Association, in Post Falls, ID, March 26-28, 2010.
• BEST Professional Development for teachers in the Seattle area, to be held at the Pacific Science Center, in Seattle, WA, April 9-11, 2010.
• BEST Professional Development for teachers in the Silicon Valley area, to be held at NASA Ames Research Center, in Mountain View, CA, May 14-16, 2010.

NASA's BEST Activities (Curriculum Guides) The guides offered here are a compliation of materials from many sources. The activities have been adapted to follow a slightly modified version of the Engineering Design Process from the Boston Museum of Science. These guides contain 12 activities, each of approximately one-hour duration. The activities were designed with engineering clubs in mind, keeping the cost down. The materials are meant to be low-cost and easy to find. The objective of the clubs is to introduce students to a disciplined way of approaching engineering projects, without getting too tangled up in the learning of the process. In other words, the kids should have FUN, and hopefully learn the Engineering Design Process along the way. Feedback from the pilot in 2008 in 23 schools and over 300 students in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, suggests that the method is working. NOTE: the guides are currently undergoing NASA's Education Product Review. The guides offered here are, thus, DRAFTS, and not officially endorsed by NASA. Activity Guides Guide for Grades K-2 Guide for Grades 3-5 Guide for Grades 6-8

Electronic Professional Development (ePD)

Session 1 Session 1 Presentation (.pdf - 2.4 MB) Did You Know 2.0: Originally from Karl Fisch, Arapaho High School, but updated by the web community. Please point your browser to YouTube and type "Did You Know" into the search box so that you may view the video. You may find various versions on the web. We are using the short version 2.0. Introduction to the Engineering Design Process (.mov - 38 MB - Quicktime) Engineering Design Process: Ask (.mov - 24 MB - Quicktime) Session 2 Session 2 Presentation (.pdf - 4.4 MB) The Journey Begins Now: NASA video introducing our return to the Moon (.wmv 43 MB - takes a long time to download! - Windows Media Viewer) Engineering Design Process: Imagine (.mov - 26 MB - Quicktime) Engineering Design Process: Plan (.mov - 32 MB - Quicktime)

Session 3 Session 3 Presentation (.pdf - 7.6 MB) Entry, Descent and Landing: Six Minutes of Terror (.mov - 19 MB - Quicktime): Terrific story of the landing process of the Mars Rovers. Engineering Design Process: Create (.mov - 10 MB - Quicktime) Engineering Design Process: Experiment (.mov - 18 MB - Quicktime) Session 4 Session 4 Presentation (.pdf - 2.2 MB) Engineering Design Process: Improve (.mov - 17 MB - Quicktime)

BEST Team Activities

• Technology Education Association of Maryland (TEAM) Conference October 16, 2009.
• Summer Bridges for STEM students in Anne Arundel County, MD Held at the Arnold Campus of Anne Arundel County Community College.
  • STEM Systems: July 13 - 24, 2009. Students learn a Systems Approach while using the Engineering Design Process to design, build and implement a rocket system with an imaging payload.
  • Lunar Robotics: August 3 - 14, 2009. Students use the Engineering Design Process to design, build and launch a mission to search for lunar on on a simulated lunar surface. Syllabus (PDF)
• Maryland Summer Center for Lunar Robotics for Gifted and Talented 8th and 9th graders in Maryland. June 22 - July 3, 2009 at the UMBC campus. One of 16 MSDE Funded Summer Centers. Application deadline was April 22, 2009. Syllabus (PDF)
  For information contact Laurie Cook, lcook @ umbc.edu.
• Presentation to MSDE Elementary Technology Coordinators, May 7, 2009 at the Baltimore Museum Of Industry. Presentation (PDF 29.2 MB)
• Nice Ride: Design and Build a Lunar Rover workshop for middle school students at Sally Ride Festival, April 18, 2009, held at the Fairfax Campus of George Mason University.
• 100 Hours of Astronomy: at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, April 3 & 4, 2009. Informal educators and Teacher Night.
• STEM Systems Education - Discussion Forum March 19, 2009: held at the Arundel Mills Campus of Anne Arundel Community College.
  • Agenda
  • For more information contact Susan.Hoban @ nasa.gov
• ESMD Project Managers Meeting, Feb 24 - 27, 2009, NASA Kenendy Space Center Presentation (PDF 18 MB)
• ePD series: Feb 23 - 26, 2009, 7 PM Eastern.
• BEST 2009+ Kick-off Meeting, January 23, 2009, at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. All team members present! Hoban's Presentation (PDF 15 MB)
• Presentation to NASA Kennedy Space Center, Education, December 22, 2008. Presentation (PDF 15 MB)
• NASA-UMBC STEM Expo, at Windsor Mill Middle School, November 15, 2008. Saturday morning full of engineering and rocketry activities for students and families. Astronaut Don Thomas was the guest speaker.

Contact Information NASA's BEST Students, Project Coordinator: Dr. Susan Hoban, Susan.Hoban @ nasa.gov Electronic Professional Development Presenter: Brittany Hamolia, Brittany.L.Hamolia @ nasa.gov Questions regarding participation in ePD: Dr. Marci Delaney, Marci.Delaney @ nasa.gov