The Internet in the classroom. Bringing NASA science to educators and students everywhere. That's what the Learning Technologies Project (LTP) is all about, and NASA's Quest project -- located at Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California -- exemplifies how the merger of science and technology produces classroom tools that are accessible, educational…and fun!
Located online at http://quest.arc.nasa.gov, NASA's Quest project is a veritable warehouse of NASA-derived educational products – each designed to help students understand and appreciate the world of science and, in turn, the world around them.
From the Quest homepage, visitors may check out Quest's "Hot Topics," a grab bag of links to new, cool, science-based products – all of them free and on the Web – that are perfect for launching the imagination. Among Quest's "Hot Topics":
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NeurOn (Neurolab Online). "Learn how the brain and nerves work in microgravity" is how this unique project bills itself, and students are invited to do just that. NeurOn is a project that invites classrooms around the world to join NASA personnel, through the Internet and e-mail, as the mission conducts brain research to study neurological and behavioral changes in space. Pretty heady stuff, huh? The NeurOn project focuses on the people of the project -- their efforts, successes, and challenges -- as revealed through informal biographies, journals, and Webchats. Hands-on activities help students experience the mission right in their own classroom! NeurOn is located online at http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/neuron/
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Aero Design Team Online. "You probably know NASA for being our nation's very successful space program," the Aero Design Team homepage says, "but did you know that NASA stands for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration?" Aero Design Team Online focuses on all things aeronautics, or the science of flight. Here, students can learn why airplanes fly and how they're designed, read bios of NASA men and women working in the field, ask questions of the experts, and experience live Webchats with NASA scientists and engineers. Aero Design Team Online targets middle school grade levels, but there's really something for everyone at http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/aero/
In addition to its ever-changing "Hot Topics," NASA's Quest project offers a variety of tools, products, and services that make science education fun through its "Sharing NASA" feature.
"Sharing NASA," located at http://quest.arc.nasa.gov, is a full suite of online resources that allows students to share in authentic NASA pursuits like flying the space shuttle, spacecraft exploration of distant planets, and space-based life sciences research. With Quest's "Sharing NASA," the focus is the enthusiastic people of the US space agency, people who make up such exciting projects as Space Team Online (http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/index.html), Mars Team Online (http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/index.html), Women of NASA (http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/women/intro.html), and others. It also includes an archive of past Quest projects whose Web sites remain online and functional.
And if you'd like to learn even more about aeronautics, you'll want to tune in the Learning Technologies Channel, a Web site that lets you participate in online courses and remotely attend NASA workshops and seminars. The Learning Technologies Channel is located at http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/ltc/ and includes a full schedule of events.
With the array of information and products accessible through NASA's Quest project and its many Web sites, there's something for future astronauts – and astronaut educators – everywhere. Explore Quest today at http://quest.arc.nasa.gov – where the sky isn't the limit!
Quest is part of NASA's Learning Technologies Project, a national initiative that brings US space agency technology to classrooms via the Internet.
Curator: Randolph Kim
Responsible NASA Official: Mark
Leon
Last Updated: 07/02/2002
