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Bring the outdoors into your library! In conjunction with the release of the new 3D IMAX film Backyard Wilderness, HHMI Tangled Bank Studios is offering libraries across the country the opportunity to host a beautiful backyard wilderness exhibit and outreach campaign designed to get kids excited about exploring the outdoors and observing the ecosystems they live in. Click here to find out more and join them for a pre-application webinar on April 24, 2018.

The STAR Net Program at the Space Science Institute’s National Center for Interactive Learning, in partnership with NASA’s Universe of Learning, is proud to announce the following library and museum partner host sites for the Discover Exoplanets exhibition, starting its tour this August: Pueblo City County Public Library and Rawlings News Museum (Pueblo, CO) – Pilot Sites Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum and Children’s Library Discovery Center (Queens, NY) The Library Station and Discovery Center of Springfield (Springfield, MO) Oldham County Public Library and Oldham County Health Department (LaGrange, KY) Sierra Vista Public Library and Henry F. Hauser Museum (Sierra [...]

by Emma Marcucci, Girls STEAM Ahead With NASA Hello NASA@Library community! Over the past year you may have seen information in the Star Net blog or attended a webinar related to resources for “Girls STEAM Ahead with NASA” (GSAWN). We’re contacting organizers from libraries who may have held GSAWN youth events in 2017 to ask you to complete this brief but important survey. We’d like to hear from you even if you did not hold a GSAWN event in 2017, just because we know you were interested in NASA materials and resources. If you did hold any GSAWN events, all the [...]

Guest post by Theresa Schwerin, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies/GLOBE Observer Team [photo above] Children estimate cloud cover through this hands-on, arts activity using construction paper: Estimating Cloud Cover: A Simulation (Credit: The GLOBE Program).  The March STAR Net Webinar series featured NASA resources for library staff to use in their Earth Day programming this spring. If you missed the live event, or would like a refresher, check out the recording of this fast-paced, interactive webinar. It included a presentation on citizen science with NASA’s GLOBE Observer Clouds by Marilé Colón Robles, NASA GLOBE Clouds Team Lead, and Jessica Taylor, NASA Physical [...]

Guest Post by Darlene Cavalier (SciStarter) Citizen Science Day (April 14), presented by SciStarter and the Citizen Science Association, is an annual event to celebrate volunteers, practitioners, and projects, and to introduce more people to opportunities to get involved in local or global projects in need of their help. [youtube id="yWZ6wybgHl4" width="800" height="450" autoplay="no" api_params="" class=""]   Libraries across the country can join in the celebration! We’ve provided some examples, descriptions, links, and “how to” resources to help you get started. If you’re already planning to participate, consider sharing your ideas in the comments below or via Twitter using the hashtag #CitSciDay2018.  [...]

Guest Post by Darlene Cavalier (SciStarter) [photo above] People swabbing microbes from shoes and cellphones at a Philadelphia Phillies game. Samples were sent to the International Space Station for growth rate comparisons. See Space Microbes for more information on this “out of this world” citizen science project. Citizen science enables people from all walks of life to participate in formal and informal scientific research. Millions of people help scientists monitor our nation’s rivers, streams and lakes, measure air quality in their communities and homes, track the migratory paths of wildlife (such as birds and butterflies),  ground-truth satellite data, and even accelerate [...]

Guest post by Jessica Stoller-Conrad Curious kids can come up with some pretty tough science questions. “How many moons does Mars have?” “How does a hurricane form?” “What is the greenhouse effect?” It’s great that these young scientists want to learn more about our planet and our place in the universe! But what happens when parents, teachers, and librarians don’t know the answers? As grownups, we know that we can look up the answers online, but it’s sometimes difficult to tell if a website is a reliable source of information. And it’s even harder for kids to tell the difference between [...]

Guest post by Universe of Learning As we approach Women's History Month in March, we look to our partners to help inspire their communities, and future generations, to discover and explore the universe for themselves.  Join us in Girls STEAM Ahead with NASA to celebrate the women in STEM and NASA Astrophysics. Girls STEAM Ahead with NASA is an initiative within NASA's Universe of Learning, an informal STEM learning and literacy program.  Growing from the pilot program NASA Science4Girls and Their Families, we are entering the second year of the initiative, where we aspire to empower women's—especially young girls'—engagement in STEM [...]

2017 Solar Eclipse Thanks for a memorable 2017 and Happy New Year. The STAR Library Network (STAR Net) had a fantastic year in 2017 anchored by the solar eclipse event in August. With support from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, NASA, and NSF, SSI’s National Center for Interactive Learning distributed 2.1 million safe viewing glasses to 7,000 library locations including public library branches, bookmobiles, tribal libraries, library consortia, and state libraries. This was the largest single distribution of free glasses in the entire country and reached more people with glasses and information than any other educational effort for the 2017 eclipse. [...]