As the Sun enters a period of increased activity, students have a new way to explore its powerful effects on Earth and space. NASA's Helioscience Education Activation Team (NASA HEAT), in collaboration with My NASA Data, has released a new set of learning resources that invite students and educators to use real-world data from NASA missions to study space weather phenomena in real time.
Hands-on training with real NASA data
Developed as part of NASA's HEAT mission to increase awareness and understanding of heliophysics, these new materials help students gain direct insight into the science of the Sun and its impact on the solar system. Resources include:
- Lesson plans and mini-lessons to quickly engage your audience
- Interactive web-based tools that allow students to visualize and analyze real mission data.
- StoryMaps, enhanced digital experiences that support multi-day explorations of space weather phenomena.
These activities draw on data collected by, among others, NASA's Parker Solar Probe, the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), and the European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter, giving students the opportunity to explore how scientists monitor and study the behavior of the Sun.
Understanding space weather
Space weather is determined by the activity of the Sun—its emissions of energy, radiation, and plasma that flow through space. When these events interact with Earth's magnetic field, they can cause stunning auroras, but also cause radio disruptions, satellite interference and power grid problems.
Using these new resources, students will be able to learn how NASA tracks and forecasts these solar events and why the study of space weather is important for the safety of astronauts, spacecraft, and technology.
Learning during solar maximum
This launch comes at the perfect time. In late 2024, the Sun entered solar maximum, the most active part of its 11-year cycle, giving students a front-row seat to the increase in solar flares, sunspots and coronal mass ejections. New NASA HEAT and My NASA Data resources encourage educators to use this unique moment to deepen classroom discussions about 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 the GLOBE Mission Earth (Global Education and Observations for the Benefit of the Environment) program, are part of the NASA Science Activation (SciAct) program, which connects students of all ages with authentic NASA science content, experts and experiences. By bringing real data and current scientific phenomena into the classroom, these new tools allow students to think like scientists and see themselves as participants in ongoing discovery.
