Teachers who are stars in their classrooms can become “Top Stars” at a NASA-sponsored contest that invites U.S. formal (K-12 and college) and informal educators to submit their best examples of using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope in science, technology, engineering or mathematics education.
The Top Stars contest continues into 2010 and is conducted by the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) in cooperation with the Space Telescope Science Institute. Submissions are accepted from individuals and from teams of up to four members, and may include any combination of text, graphics, video and photos.
“The quality of the materials produced by these newest Top Star winners, and the spirit with which they were developed, demonstrate how Hubble inspires educators to do good things,” said Bonnie McClain, NASA Hubble education plan co-lead.

Credit: NASA, ESA, and F. Paresce (INAF-IASF, Bologna, Italy), R. O’Connell (University of Virginia, Charlottesville), and the Wide Field Camera 3 Science Oversight Committee.

The Showcase section of the Top Stars Web site includes downloadable materials from all Hubble activities selected as Top Stars to date.
“With the addition of these high-quality Hubble educations materials, the Top Stars Showcase is becoming an increasingly rich resource for educators working in formal and informal settings,” said Theresa Schwerin, IGES vice president for education.
Top Stars are selected periodically during the contest period. The next deadline for entry is Feb. 28, 2010. Educators, including those who have already submitted entries, are allowed and encouraged to revise, improve and re-submit their entries.
For more information, including submission guidelines, please visit: http://topstars.strategies.org