*MY NASA DATA E-note (Number 27)
October 2008*

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) New lessons added to Teacher Plans collection
2) New Feedback button on the Lessons page
3) MY NASA DATA switching to updated system
4) National Metric Week is October 6-10, 2008
5) 2008-2009 Pete Conrad Spirit of Innovation Awards Announcement
6) NASA Quest announces the LIMA II Challenge for students in grades 4-8
7) The Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) announces the 2009 Thacher Scholars Award*


*1) New lessons added to Teacher Plans collection
*
Four additional lessons developed by the 2008 summer workshop group are now available on the website on the Teacher Plans page 
http://mynasadata.larc.nasa.gov/User_lessons.html:

/Lesson #55 Fostering Geospatial Thinking: Space to Earth: Earth to Space (SEES)/ contributed by John D. Moore, Medford, New Jersey
/Lesson #56 A Case Study of Local Trends in the Carbon Cycle/ contributed by Tami Golliday, St. Marys, Ohio
/Lesson #57 Analyzing Tree Rings to Determine Climate Change/ contributed by Patrick Daugherty, Columbia, Missouri
/Lesson #58 Nutrients in Chesapeake Bay/ contributed by Jim Evans, Washington, D.C.

Keep checking the website for updates to the lesson collection!

*2) New Feedback button on the Lessons page*

MY NASA DATA is inviting any and all comments on the lesson plans on our web site!

Many of you have contributed to the Lessons section of the web site and the number of plans has grown over the years. 
You may have used your own or someone else’s lesson in the classroom. We are asking, “What worked?” and 
for suggestions of modifications or other comments. We have implemented an easy way for you to send us your thoughts. 
Look for the Teacher Feedback icon with the bright red apple on the individual lesson page on the right side under the image that goes with each lesson.

We look forward to hearing from all of you! Comments can be short or long!

*3) MY NASA DATA switching to updated system*

If all goes according to plan, we will be running MY NASA DATA on a faster, bigger system around October 27, 2008. 
We are expecting only a minor amount of down time on October 27, 2008 but we wanted to alert you to the possibility 
that the web site may not be available on that date. A note will be posted on the MY NASA DATA home page as we get 
closer to our target date. Keep in mind that the date could change!

In conjunction with the new system, we’d like to request that you notify us right away if something is not working correctly. 
We’ll be testing prior to the new implementation but things sometimes work for us and not for others!

*4) National Metric Week is October 6-10, 2008*

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) is celebrating National Metric Week, October 6-10, 2008. 
Scientists use the metric system in much of their research, especially in working with the international community. 
For a list of suggested activities, please visit http://www.nctm.org/metric-week.aspx. You may also like to visit the 
MY NASA DATA metric system page, http://mynasadata.larc.nasa.gov/metric_system.html.

*5) 2008-2009 Pete Conrad Spirit of Innovation Awards Announcement*

The Conrad Foundation has announced a competition opportunity for high school students. 
“The Pete Conrad Spirit of Innovation Awards combine education, innovation and entrepreneurship by 
challenging high school students to design products using science and technology. … Teams will compete for over $120,000 
of prize money as well as the opportunities to connect with leading scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs.”
For more information on the Pete Conrad Spirit of Innovation Awards go to: http://www.conradaward.com/

*6) NASA Quest announces the LIMA II Challenge for students in grades 4-8

*“In this challenge, students become scientists and propose Antarctic research. Using the Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica, 
the first true-color high-resolution satellite view of the Antarctic continent, students must develop a research question and 
debate the value of studying the chosen feature. Registration is currently open and educational resources are available online. 
The challenge begins on Oct. 1, 2008, with a live webcast. Preliminary proposals are due Nov. 5, 2008.”
For more information, visit http://quest.nasa.gov/challenges/lima.

*7) The Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) announces the 2009 Thacher Scholars Award
*
The IGES Thacher Scholars Award is given to secondary school students (grades 9-12) demonstrating the best use of 
geospatial technologies or data to study Earth. “Entries must be postmarked April 6, 2009. IGES plans to announce the 
winning entries by May 12, 2009. Entries will be judged by IGES staff. 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.”
For more information about this and other IGES-sponsored contests, visit http://www.strategies.org/index.aspx.