As the Sun enters a period of heightened activity, students now have a new way to explore its powerful effects on Earth and space. NASA’s Heliophysics Education Activation Team (NASA HEAT), in collaboration with My NASA Data, has released a new set of classroom resources that invite students and educators to engage with real NASA mission data to study space weather phenomena in real time.
Hands-On Learning with Real NASA Data
Developed as part of NASA HEAT’s mission to increase awareness and understanding of heliophysics, these new materials help learners connect directly with the science of the Sun and its influence on the solar system. The resources include:
- Lesson plans and mini-lessons for quick classroom engagement
- Interactive web-based tools that let students visualize and analyze real mission data
- StoryMaps, longer-form digital experiences that guide multi-day investigations into space weather events
These activities draw from data collected by NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), and the European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter, among others, giving students a chance to explore how scientists monitor and study the Sun’s behavior.
Understanding Space Weather
Space weather is driven by the Sun’s activity – its bursts of energy, radiation, and plasma that stream through space. When these events interact with Earth’s magnetic field, they can produce stunning auroras but also cause radio disruptions, satellite interference, and power grid issues.
By engaging with these new resources, students can learn how NASA monitors and predicts these solar phenomena and why studying space weather is essential for keeping astronauts, spacecraft, and technology safe.
Learning During Solar Maximum
This launch comes at a perfect time. In late 2024, the Sun entered solar maximum, the most active part of its 11-year cycle, providing students a front-row seat to increased solar flares, sunspots, and coronal mass ejections. The new NASA HEAT and My NASA Data resources encourage educators to use this unique moment to deepen classroom discussions on magnetism, energy, and the Sun–Earth connection through observation and data-driven exploration.
Inspiring Future Scientists
Both NASA HEAT and My NASA Data, part of GLOBE Mission Earth (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment), are part of the NASA Science Activation (SciAct) program, which connects learners of all ages with authentic NASA science content, experts, and experiences. By bringing real-world data and current scientific phenomena into the classroom, these new tools empower students to think like scientists and see themselves as contributors to ongoing discovery.
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