By Tassia Owen

Satellites, stories, and hands-on science! Earth Observatory for Kids (EO Kids for short) ­is a free online publication that strives to share Earth science stories and data in a way that engages diverse young adults. It is a spinoff of the NASA Earth Observatory, which has been sharing stories and imagery of climate change, natural events, and Earth system science since 1999.

Each issue of EO Kids comes with a story focused on real satellite imagery and an activity to further engage kids in understanding remote sensing. Our goal is to let them see the planet as scientists do and to use hands-on activities to make global issues more understandable.

Children learn by doing, not just by reading. And science is a way of thinking, not a body of facts. EO Kids gives readers an opportunity to create their own visualizations, solve mysteries by examining data, engineer their own models, develop their own experiments, and expand on critical thinking skills.

Teachers and after-school groups have been using EO Kids to reinforce Earth science concepts and to set the stage for student engagement in complex topics like urban heat islands, geologic processes, or the carbon cycle.

Parents have said that the publication is a great way to discuss real-world topics with their children. And many adults reported learning something along with their kids.

EO Kids is published ten times a year. You can join the email list and receive notifications when new content is released, and you can always visit the archive to download previous issues.

Come explore our Earth with us!

– Tassia Owen is Managing Editor of EO Kids