September Newsletter

Roberta's Corner

Welcome to the inaugural issue of the Windows to the Universe Educator Newsletter! The goal of this monthly newletter to is share with you highlights of the website and our professional development activities - content gems, new resources that have been or will be added shortly, and upcoming workshops. In addition, we'll occasionally provide opportunities for you to provide us input on topics or classroom activities you'd like to see added, interactives you'd like to see developed, and sneak previews of new tools we'd like to have your feedback on. The Windows to the Universe Educator Newsletter is arranged in Staff "Corners", where our development team shares information about the aspects of the website that they are working on now. Staff photos will help you to recognize our staff at our upcoming professional development workshops at the upcoming National Science Teachers Association Regional meeting in Chicago, Illinois in November this November. Our next newsletter will provide details of our workshops and demonstrations planned for the NSTA meeting. Thanks for registering to become a Windows to the Universe Educator!

Roberta Johnson
Windows to the Universe Principal Investigator

Jennifer's Corner

Did you know that the Windows to the Universe site has many educational games? I added our newest in May – the Atmosphere and Clouds Word Search. Like the rest of the site, it’s available at three different levels. Check it out!

Lisa's Corner

Your students have been hearing about hurricanes even if they don't live in a hurricane prone area. Visit the hurricanes section on Windows to the Universe with your students to explore a dozen pages that explain the science of these extreme weather events.

Marina's Corner

Mythology is the study of myths: stories of a particular culture that it believes to be true and that feature a specific religion or belief system. Myths are a collection of stories belonging to a group of people, which address their origin, history, and heroes. The Mythology section of Windows to the Universe includes myths from several cultures about Rain, Winds, Storms, Thunder and Lightning. Check them out!

Randy's Corner

Sunspots are visual indicators of powerful magnetic disturbances on the Sun. Solar "storms", such as solar flares and Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs), burst forth from the active regions around sunspots. Upon arrival at Earth, these storms can bombard astronauts with radiation, disrupt satellite and radio communications, and generate the beautiful auroras (Northern and Southern Lights). Learn more about sunspots from these new pages on Windows to the Universe:

Sunspots
Sizes of Sunspots (Most are larger than Earth!)
History of Sunspot Observations (From ancient Chinese astrologers to Galileo to modern satellite images.)
The Sunspot Cycle (Do you know what phase of the 11-year sunspot cycle we're in right now?)
Sunspots and Magnetic Fields (Why do sunspots look dark?)
Starspots (Our Sun isn't the only star with spots!)
Movie - Rotating Sun with Sunspots
Movie - Solar Storm

Julia's Corner

We have more than 7000 pages on our site! To find what you need faster, use the Windows to the Universe search tool. It allows you to choose specific areas of the site for your search, as well as the reading level of the results.

The source of this material is Windows to the Universe, at http://windows2universe.org/ from the National Earth Science Teachers Association (NESTA). The Website was developed in part with the support of UCAR and NCAR, where it resided from 2000 - 2010. © 2010 National Earth Science Teachers Association. Windows to the Universe® is a registered trademark of NESTA. All Rights Reserved. Site policies and disclaimer.