Challenger Center for Space Science Education (CCSSE) will develop a set of engaging, interactive learning activities that help middle school students learn about and explore climate change, from an orbital perspective. We will distribute the activities for use in our 46 Challenger Learning Centers (CLCs) where we take children on simulated space missions, reaching over 300,000 students and teachers per year. We will also distribute them more broadly via our public web site, for pre- and post-mission experiences and for anyone else who might have an interest. We will develop these activities using state-of-art image and visualization techniques and a wide range of NASA data on climate change. We will do this in collaboration with NASA centers who are actively involved in Earth observations, climate change research and public outreach. CCSSE headquarters staff will provide overall leadership, and work with a team of educators from CLCs to develop and field-test these activities.

CCSSE has a 23-year history of innovative, engaging Earth and space science education. Work has been done over the past two years to redesign our Encounter Earth mission to give it a stronger focus on Earth as a system and climate change. This project aligns directly with on-going development goals. Throughout, CCSSE maintains our signature focus on immersive, participatory explorations that engage students in virtual and real space missions. We expect that students who use these activities will better understand climate change, and take action to help mitigate greenhouse gases, and adapt to its serious impacts. We submit this proposal to Funding Category D (Goal 2): Using NASA Earth system data and models to Strengthen Teaching and Learning about Global Climate Change. These activities work towards NASA's climate literacy goals of improving teaching and learning about climate change, and increasing the number of people who use NASA data.