Posts at the Center’s Blog on the Universe cover a diverse array of topics in the Earth and space sciences and exploration, and are committed to science education as conceptual understanding at an emotional level. The Blog also contains Resource Pages with essays addressing broader topics than a Post. Below is a sampling of the Blog’s Posts and Pages.

If you like these essays, we invite you to subscribe or register at Blog on the Universe to receive an email notification of new Posts, many of which are timely Teachable Moments in the News. Teachers and parents—to put these Posts and Pages to work with your children or students, read about the Teachers’ Toolbox at the Blog.

The Blog on the Universe Resource Pages: Essays on Education, Our Existence, and Our Dreams

The Nature of Our Existence: Celebrating what we know of Earth in a greater space—and that we can know it.
The Art of Teaching: A thank you to teachers everywhere.
The Power of Models: An essay that should be required reading for teachers of science.
Scientists and Engineers as Heroes and Role Models: We need new heroes for the 21st century.
Mathematics Education: Math is a language … the language of nature. It should be embedded across the curriculum.
The National Air and Space Museum: A celebration of human dreams of flight in air and space.
The Crisis in Science Education
An Open Letter to President Obama on Science Education

Sample posts by subject area—

Global Warming, Climate Change, and the Earth Environment

How far is ‘Outer Space’? What does this imply for the thickness of Earth’s atmosphere?
The Business Trip
Climate change point: we do not live under an ocean of air, but rather a slender fragile veil of atmosphere.

How thick is Earth’s atmosphere?
Apples and You
Climate change point: you can make a simple model that shows how thin the atmospheric layer is surrounding Earth, and it is shockingly thin. This model provides a new perspective on the atmosphere’s fragility, and the need to protect it.

If humans are changing the environment on a global scale, then you might think the planet is overrun with people, and the human race must take up a lot of space. Does it? What can we learn from the answer?
A Pound of Ants and the Capabilities of Intelligent Biomass
Climate change point: the total volume of the human race is shockingly small. It is human technology that is changing the environment, which is the fundamental argument for a scientifically literate public that can make informed decisions about technology use.

How fast is the human population growing? What are the consequences?
People People Everywhere
Climate change point: world population is growing at a stunning rate, and the needs of increasing populations put severe stress on available resources and services—particularly in the age of global warming.

What is the basic argument for Global Warming due to human activity?
A Day in the Life of the Earth: Understanding Human-Induced Climate Change
Foreword by Dr. James Hansen, Director, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies
Cross-posted at the Huffington Post.
Cross-posted at The Climate Community.
Cross-posted at the GLOBE Scientists’ Blog.
Climate change point: global warming has the signature of a catastrophic event, and the introduction of human technology on a global scale appears to be the source in plain sight.

Why is the quality of media reporting on climate change so important?
Firestorm in the Arctic: Al Gore Vindicated on Comments in Copenhagen
Cross-posted at Huffington Post.
Cross-posted at The Climate Community.
Climate change point: as a planet, let’s explore and debate the global courses of action that can and should be considered based on what the data is telling us. And let’s do it with journalists recognizing the important role they play in keeping us all informed, the need for accurate reporting, and the sacred trust that that entails.

Space Flight

Why are astronauts weightless in space?
You Want Me to Do What With a Bathroom Scale?

When a space shuttle launches—how heavy, how fast, how far?
Shuttle Atlantis in Orbit, Make it a Teachable Moment
Cross-posted at the Huffington Post.

History, Legacy, and the Future
Good Background: Blog on the Universe Resource Page on the National Air and Space Museum

What was it like to live through the flight of Apollo 11—the most historic voyage in the history of the human race?
Yesterday’s Launch of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Brings Back Memories of Apollo 11
Cross-posted at the Huffington Post.

What were the experiences of people that lived through the historic flight of Apollo 11?
SPECIAL POST: Where Were You During the Flight of Apollo 11? Remember and Share
Cross-posted at the Huffington Post.

What is it like to meet your hero? What is the nature of human exploration?
An Apollo 11 Personal Story

What should be the goal of human space flight?
Commentary on Blue-Ribbon Panel Exploring NASA’s Strategic Options for Human Space Flight
Cross-posted at the Huffington Post.

Is the end of the space shuttle era a symptom of a larger problem for America? Are we taking science and technology education seriously?
Shuttle Atlantis Home! Prompts Me to Look to America’s Future … and I’m Troubled
Cross-posted at the Huffington Post.
Cross-posted at the Space Tweep Society Blog

How will the next generation view the era of the space shuttle?
Shuttle Endeavour About to Blast Off on its Second to Last Mission, Make it a Teachable Moment
Cross-posted at Huffington Post.

Size and Scale of Solar System Objects and Distances
Good Background: Blog on the Universe Resource Page on The Nature of Our Existence

How can we make Solar System sizes and distances (like the size of Earth, the size of the Sun, and distances to the Moon and Sun) understandable?
My Really Long Drive with Jordi

How big is the Moon?
If I Could Gift Wrap the Moon

How big is a large asteroid?
Extra Wrapping Paper? Let’s Gift Wrap the Biggest ASTEROID. (oooh I’m so scared of the IAU)

What does the sky look like from the surface of other worlds in our Solar System?
Dr. Jeff’s Interplanetary Travel Agency

How fast are you moving through space due to Earth’s rotation, Earth’s revolution around the Sun, and the Solar System’s revolution around the center of the Milky Way galaxy?
Spaceship Earth

On New Year’s Day, what can you say about Earth, its orbit, and the passage of another year?
Happy New Year and Some Fun Facts

Size and Scale of the Galaxy and Universe
Good Background: Blog on the Universe Resource Page on The Nature of Our Existence

MATH CONCENTRATION USING SPACE SCIENCE AS CONTENT
As I keep folding a sheet of paper in half, how rapidly does its thickness increase? How many folds to get a thickness as tall as the Empire State Building, or equal to the distance to the Moon, or to the distance to the edge of the observable universe?
What Can You Do With a Humongous Piece of Xerox Paper?

How many stars are there?
The Milky Way: Our City of Stars

MATH CONCENTRATION USING SPACE SCIENCE AS CONTENT
If I stretched Earth out into a strand of Earth spaghetti, how thin would it be if it were to stretch across the observable universe?
Twilight Zone, the Missing Episode – “Today’s Special in the Cosmic Kitchen”

How fast are you moving through space due to Earth’s rotation, Earth’s revolution around the Sun, and the Solar System’s revolution around the center of the Milky Way galaxy?
Spaceship Earth