One of NASA’s goals is to improve public understanding and appreciation of science technology, engineering and mathematics through partnerships with informal education institutions. Under the leadership of NASA’s Education Directorate, Langley’s Informal education program is creating alliances with science centers, museums, planetariums, Libraries, community-based organizations, and other informal education entities which are a major source of inspiration and learning for the general public.

Image Above: Ron Shaneyfelt gives a rocketry class at the YMCA.

Our plans target the following results by 2008:

• Establish a national program to engage the informal education community with NASA Science and Technology.
• Provide instructional materials (and information) derived from NASA research and scientific activities that meet the needs of NASA's informal education partners.
• Provide professional development for NASA's informal education partners.

NASA Explorer Institutes

The Informal Education Division is initiating a new national level program called NASA Explorer Institutes (NEI). NEI will provide, "...as only NASA can," engaging experiences, opportunities, materials, and information to members of the informal education community. The NEI will assist NASA in sharing our discoveries and our experiences with the general public. NASA will work with our NEI partners to help deliver professional development programs for educators.

Langley Explorer Institutes

To better inspire the next generation of explorers, NASA must reach out to families and learners of all ages with stimulating experiences that educate the public in innovative and entertaining ways NASA Langley Research Center’s Office of Education and the Virginia Air & Space Center hosted a professional development opportunity the week of November 7- 13, 2004.. The objective was to (1) form lasting collaborative partnerships which integrate NASA research; missions, and programs, (2) create compelling NASA contextual-based teaching applications that align with national and state educational standards; and (3) provide opportunities for further collaboration with NASA researchers and other informal education institutions via videoconferencing over NASA’s Digital Learning Network. The outcome created a group of “NASA Certified Science Instructors” trained to develop a science programming for K-12 students at their institutions, host teacher workshops, and disseminate NASA programs and opportunities to other informal learning Centers.

4-H NASA Explorer Institute

This NEI is a collaborative effort involving NASA’s Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD), NASA Langley’s Center for Distance Learning, and the North Carolina 4-H. A collaboration to inspire young people in North Carolina to pursue careers involving STEM and to diffuse and utilize NASA education products within North Carolina. Drawing linkages between the historic connection of the 4-H to biology, botany and health, with NASA research in human physiology, wellness and the propagation and management of living organisms in space, the workshop will develop a model program for collaboration with 4-H nationally. NASA’s A Vision for Space Exploration, is a bold plan for exploring scientifically valuable destinations across our solar system. For human explorers to undertake lengthy research trips on other worlds, they will have to maintain their health in environments that possess higher radiation and lower gravity than Earth and that are far from supplies and medical expertise. Mitigating these hazards will require, for example, for NASA’s Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD) to place greater emphasis on bioastro-nautics (e.g., human physiology and countermeasures, space medicine, human behavior and performance, and development of robust air, water, and food production systems). Among the 50 states, North Carolina 4-H is considered to have one of the top 4-H organizations in the country. Each year, over 27,000 young people and adults participate in programs sponsored by the North Carolina 4-H. Once implemented, we will demonstrate, model, and evaluate how NASA, in collaboration with the 4-H, can on a national scale effectively engage young people and adults in the NASA Vision for Exploration and Discovery.