MY NASA DATA E-note (Number 31)
February/March 2009*

*Greetings MY NASA DATA Alumni and Newslist members!*

The monthly E-note is sent to anyone who is interested in learning more about or keeping up to date with the 
MY NASA DATA project. If you know someone who is interested in this information, the sign-up can be found at:
http://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/HPDOCS/email_registration.html

1) Updates to the Lesson Plans page
2) Professional Development Webcast Series
3) National Environmental Education Week
4) NASA Sun-Earth Day 2009
5) IGES Thacher Scholars Award
6) Summer workshop alumnus wins environmental education award
7) MY NASA DATA Ambassador presentation *


*1) Updates to the Lesson Plans page *

Have you recently looked at the Lessons page http://mynasadata.larc.nasa.gov/User_lessons.html?
Take a few minutes to check out these updates:

Two new GRACE lessons, contributed by the GRACE educational outreach team, have been posted:
#60b “GRACE Lesson: Water Storage Around the World” (Word File) 
#60c “GRACE Lesson: Melting Ice Caps” (Word File)

The following lessons have passed the Earth Science Education headquarters-level review:
Team Lesson I: “El Nino Lesson”
Teacher-contributed lessons:
#27 “Investigating Seasonal Variability in NO2 Concentrations”, contributed by Brooke Carter-Hsu, 
	Greenbelt, MD
#35 “Studying Snow and Ice Changes”, contributed by Martin F. Schmidt, Jr., Owings Mills, MD
#41 “Investigating Factors that Influence Climate”, contributed by Denise Thompson, 
	Orting, Washington
#54 “1492: Using Data to Explain a Journey”, contributed by Malinda Burk, Lincoln, Nebraska

When you use a lesson in your classroom, please use the Teacher Feedback button to let us know 
your comments and suggestions!

*2) Professional Development Webcast Series--Next webcast March 19!* A Professional Development Webcast 
Series is being offered by NASA Langley Research Center in co-operation with NOAA and the VA Department 
of Education Region 2 Math/Science Coalition, for grades 3-8 and Earth Science teachers. Each of the five 
monthly webcasts addresses a different Earth System Science topic. The webcasts may be accessed on the 
NASA Digital Learning Network at http://dln.nasa.gov/dln/.

*3) National Environmental Education Week* It isn’t too late to register for Environmental Education Week, 
sponsored by the National Environmental Education Foundation, and observed April 12-18, 2009. For more 
information, visit http://www.eeweek.org/.

*4) NASA Sun-Earth Day 2009*
What is special about March 20? It is the date of the Spring Equinox, but is also the observance of 
Sun-Earth Day! For more information visit the Sun-Earth Day website at 
http://sunearthday.nasa.gov/2009/index.php

*5) IGES Thacher Scholar Award *
The Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) announces its
2009 Thacher Scholars Award. “The 2009 Thacher Scholars Awards will be given to secondary school 
students (grades 9-12) demonstrating the best use of geospatial technologies or data to study Earth. 
Eligible geospatial tools and data include satellite remote sensing, aerial photography, geographic 
information systems (GIS), and Global Positioning System (GPS). The main focus of the project must 
be on the application of the geospatial tool(s) or data to study a problem related to Earth's 
environment.” (IGES website). The application deadline is April 6, 2009. For more information on 
the Thacher Scholars Award, please visit http://www.strategies.org/ThacherScholars.

*6) Summer workshop alumnus wins environmental education award* MY NASA DATA summer workshop 2008 
alumnus and S’COOL participant, John Moore, of Medford, New Jersey, was selected by the Association 
of New Jersey Environmental Educators (ANJEE) as the Formal Outstanding Environmental Educator of 
the Year. John presented S’COOL at the January meeting of the American Meteorological Association, 
and will also be including a session on S’COOL and MY NASA DATA in teaching a course at the local 
community college.            Congratulations, John!

*7) MY NASA DATA Ambassador presentation* Patrick Daugherty, summer workshop 2008 alumnus and MND 
ambassador from University of Missouri, presented two workshops devoted to using the MY NASA DATA 
web site for 6-12 math and science teachers, about 64 teachers in all. Patrick reports that the 
teachers were “impressed with the web site and its potential for improving student learning”.
Thanks, Patrick!