“NASA STEM Stars” is a webchat series that gives students ages 13+ the opportunity to connect with subject matter experts at NASA.
Each chat introduces a STEM career, addresses a STEM topic and highlights a NASA mission. The broadcast also highlights a STEM activity that students can do at home. After the interview, students can ask the NASA experts questions and share their completed activities on social media using #NextGenSTEM.
Watch this short video for a preview of what to expect!
NASA Role Model: Robert Cabana from Kennedy Space Center
Students can participate in physical activities modeled after the real-life physical requirements of humans traveling in space.
Difficulty: Easy
Materials Needed:
NASA Role Model: Jennifer Scott Williams from Johnson Space Center
Following this activity, students will be able to:
50 minutes | Difficulty: Easy
Materials Needed:
NASA Role Model: Pedro Lopez from Johnson Space Center
Construct balloon-powered rockets to launch the largest payload possible.
30-60 minutes | Difficulty: Easy
Materials Needed:
NASA Role Model: Eric Smith from NASA Headquarters
Calculate the movements of planets in our solar system and other star systems.
30-60 minutes | Difficulty: Moderate
Materials Needed:
NASA Role Model: Vianni Ricano Cadenas from Langley Research Center
Understand the relationship between speed, distance, and orbits.
50 minutes | Difficulty: Moderate
Materials Needed:
NASA Role Model: Dawn Martin from Kennedy Space Center
Following this activity, students will be able to:
60 minutes | Difficulty: Moderate
Materials Needed:
General building supplies:
NASA Role Model: Nithin Abraham: Thermal Coatings Engineer from Goddard Space Flight Center
Students will work together as a team to design and build a heat shield that will protect the contents 60 minutes (candy) of a crew module (paper cup) from a simulated atmospheric reentry (hair dryer).
Difficulty: Moderate
Materials Needed:
Students will engage in a series of demonstrations focusing on the forces of flight using different materials and shapes to determine which are the most and least susceptible to lift, weight, drag and thrust.
Difficulty: Moderate
Materials Needed:
Following this activity, students will be able to design and build a device that can take a core sample from a potato “asteroid”.
Difficulty: Moderate
Materials Needed:
Following this activity, students will be able to model the life cycle of a massive star using beads to represent a star’s development.
Difficulty: Easy
Materials Needed:
NASA Role Model: Dominic Lunde: Aerospace Engineer from Aerojet Rocketdyne
Following this activity, students will be able to assemble their own Moon Kit with the items they would pack for a trip to the Moon fit within a 5-by-8-by-2-inch (12.7-by-20.3-by-5.1-cm) volume of space
Difficulty: Easy
Materials Needed:
NASA Role Model: Phillip Hargrove from the Kennedy Space Center
Following this activity, students will be able to:
Difficulty: Moderate
Materials Needed:
NASA Role Model: Dr. John Mather from Headquarters
Following this activity, students will be able to compare a simple telescope to both the Webb Telescope and the Hubble Telescope.
Difficulty: Moderate (MS or HS level student)
Materials Needed:
NASA Role Model: Luz Maria Martinez from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Following this activity, students will be able to:
Difficulty: Moderate
Materials Needed:
NASA Role Model: Antti Pulkkinen from Goddard Space Flight Center
Following this activity, students will be able to:
Difficulty: Difficult
Materials Needed:
NASA Role Model: Dr. Georgia DeNolfo from Goddard
Following this activity, students will be able to demonstrate understanding of Solar Energetic Particles and how damaging they can be to spacecraft and satellite electronics.
Difficulty: Easy
Materials Needed:
NASA Role Model: Dr. Hashima Hasan from Headquarters
Following this activity, students will be able to:
Difficulty: Difficult
Materials Needed:
NASA Role Model: Rosa Avalos-Warren from Goddard
Following this activity, students will be able to:
Difficulty: Moderate
Materials Needed:
NASA Role Model: David McBride from the Armstrong Flight Research Center
Use household items and apply the engineering design process to create X-Plane gliders that can fly at least 3 meters and remain intact after landing
Difficulty: Moderate
Materials Needed:
NASA Role Model: Dr. Christian Gelzer from the Armstrong Flight Research Center
Learn about the history of supersonic flight and the sonic boom
Difficulty: Easy to Moderate
Materials Needed:
NASA Role Model: Carmen Arevalo from the Armstrong Flight Research Center
Following this activity, students will be able to:
Difficulty: Moderate
Materials Needed:
NASA Role Model: Dr. Dynae Fullwood from Johnson Space Center
Have you ever wondered when the next full moon will be? How about the first quarter moon? Now you can have all the dates and times for all the moon phases for the year at your fingertips by building your own moon phases calendar and calculator!
Difficulty: Easy
Materials Needed:
NASA Role Model: Elio Morillo from the Jet Propulsion Lab
Following this activity, students will be able to:
Difficulty: Moderate
Materials Needed:
NASA Role Model: Lance Foster from NASA Glenn Research Center and Special Guest Sam White!
Following this activity, students will be able to:
Difficulty: Easy-Moderate
Materials Needed:
