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The theme and dates have been set for LiftOff 2017 and we are currently soliciting applications!  Please help spread the word!   $1,000-$1,500 will pay most expenses – hotel, meals, tours, and travel for teacher to attend for the week (There is a $750 registration fee + travel to Houston, Texas). 

PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENT

Beginning in the summer of 1990, the NASA's Texas Space Grant Consortium initiated weeklong professional development training for teachers. This aerospace workshop, called LiftOff, emphasizes science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning experiences by incorporating a space science theme supported by NASA missions. Teacher participants are provided with information and experiences through speakers, hands-on activities and field investigations that promote space science and enrichment activities for themselves and others.

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

A solar system is a star and all of the objects that travel around it – planets, moons, asteroids, comets, and meteoroids. NASA is conducting an unprecedented array of missions that will seek new knowledge and understanding of Earth, the solar system and the universe.

Multiple NASA missions are studying our sun and the solar system, unraveling mysteries about their origin and evolution. By understanding variations of the sun in real-time, we can better characterize space weather, which can impact exploration and technology on Earth. In August 2017, a total eclipse of the Sun is visible from a narrow corridor that traverses the U.S. Educators will receive background information on the Sun while analyzing the characteristics of objects in the solar system that allow life to exist. Learn about Day and Night, Seasons, and Tides.

PROGRAM FEATURES:

• Presentations by NASA scientists and engineers
• Tours of NASA and Space Center Houston
• Hands-on, inquiry based classroom activities aligned to educational standards
• Career Exploration
• Teacher Feature (sharing of classroom lessons and activities)
• Opportunity to interact with researchers dedicated to space missions

The deadline for receiving applications is April 14 for LiftOff 2017 and should be submitted through the online system:

http://www.tsgc.utexas.edu/liftoff/