“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: 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: 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:
