NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NASA and Disney Parks, which collaborated to carry toy space ranger Buzz Lightyear into orbit, are launching new efforts to encourage students to pursue studies in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Mission Patch Design Challenge:
Students ages 6-12 will have the opportunity to design a patch to commemorate Lightyear's mission and his accomplishment of being the longest serving space ranger. The student with the most creative mission patch and 100-word essay will win a tour of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida and a trip to Walt Disney World Resort. NASA will fly the winning patch into space, then present it to the contest winner.

Kids in Micro-g Experiment Challenge:
Students in the fifth through eighth grades are encouraged to devise experiments to be conducted aboard the space station. The 12 winning experiments will be performed by the end of the school year and videotaped for the winning schools.

Get more information about the challenges.

Also just launched is a new online game as part of the Space Ranger Education Series. The series includes fun educational games for students and materials for educators to download and integrate into classroom curricula. In the newest game, "Putting It All Together," players can build the entire station using all of the real modules.