Earth Explorers -- NASA scientists, engineers, writers, multimedia producers, and others who study our planet -- will be featured in a variety of social media events during Earth Science week. You and your students can have a front row seat to their Google+ Hangouts, Twitter chats, and Reddit Interviews. There will also be a radio interview and a webinar in Spanish.

Now is the time to start planning to ensure that your students do not miss this opportunity. They can participate in the live events, or, if necessary, watch the recordings or read the transcripts afterward.

Before the event:
Use the links found on the event post to learn about the featured Earth explorer. Then, in small groups, have students come up with a list of questions for that person. Together as a class, decide on the two or three most intriguing questions you would like answered by the Earth explorer.

Visit the event information page to learn how you can submit questions during the live event or beforehand. Our Earth explorers will do their best to answer as many questions as possible in the allotted time.

During the event:
Log on and watch as the conversation unfolds. (If your class cannot view the live event, recordings/transcripts will be available by the following day. Links will be provided on event pages.)

After the event:
Encourage students to reflect on the event by answering some of the following questions:
• What questions about Earth is this Earth explorer studying? Why are these questions important?
• What tools and techniques does the explorer use to gather data?
• Does the explorer work alone or with a team? If the work involves a team, what role does each member play in the research?
• How will the information gathered by the explorer affect our future?