This is the second post in our series Pathways to Science, which will share opportunities for students to connect with scientists.
Today we are looking at the "Story Time From Space" program, a project of the Global Space Education Foundation. The project sends picture books to the International Space Station where astronauts read them aloud. The readings are recorded and are available online for anyone to watch. Curriculum for teachers is being developed in addition to veteran astronauts recording science demonstration videos based on the science content in the stories for classrooms to use.
The program gives opportunities for classrooms to connect with astronauts through a common experience- the reading of a picture book. The stories are chosen for their connections to science and space. For a nice review of some of the books that have been sent to the space station, check out "Read a Book with an Astronaut on the International Space Station" on the Wrapped in Foil blog.
To date there have been 2 batches of books sent to the space station and the video library is still small, however the program will continue to grow. This is a wonderful way for students to see that scientists like astronauts are relatable, regular people who like stories just like them. (Ok, maybe regular people with really cool jobs, but what better way to inspire kids to want to pursue work in a scientific field?)
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International Space Station By NASA/Crew of STS-132 [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons |
To connect with Story Time From Space, you can follow them on Facebook and Twitter. Keep checking back on their website to see when supplemental curriculum materials are available!
If you are interested in connection kids to the International Space Station in other ways, check out this website with links to programs like LEGO in Space and Kids in Micro-g! You can also participate in space station missions through the Sally Ride EarthKAM project. Learn more at my post: Sally Ride EarthKAM: Be a Part of an International Space Station Mission.
Check out some of the stories that have been read on the Space Station!
These are affiliate links, please see disclosures for more information
- Max Goes to the Moon by Jeffrey Bennett
- The Wizard Who Saved the World by Jeffrey Bennett
- Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty
- I, Humanity by Jeffrey Bennett
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