Welcome to Asteroid Academy!

 

Did you know that humans have mapped more of the surface of the moon and Mars than we have the bottom of the ocean? And did you know that astronauts train underwater for a variety of missions in space? Do you know what zooxanthellae are and why they’re important? Or that there is a planet in our solar system populated entirely by robots, and that one of those robots sings to itself? Any idea what it costs to send a guitar up to the International Space Station?

Over the course of the Asteroid Academy series, you’re going to learn all that and more! The Aquarius Reef Base and Laboratory is an underwater habitat located 5.4 miles (9 kilometres) off Key Largo in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. It’s deployed on the ocean floor 62 feet (19 meters) below the surface and next to a deep coral reef named Conch Reef. Below, you’ll find a directory of units of study within the Hab Lessons course, along with a brief description of the unit, a list of its lessons and videos, and a notification of completion for each lesson that has been completed.

Within each unit you will also find a Dive Deeper page with additional resources, links and suggested experiments or reading for you to explore. You’ll find that most lessons have a quiz attached, and each unit has a review quiz and vocabulary quiz associated with it as well. Finally, you’ll see that there are review sections periodically that have tests available to use. These sections cover the two or three preceding units, and will help you identify any material you may want to revisit before moving forward.

 

This is your classroom – come on in!

The Aquarius | Welcome to the Hab

The Oceans | Coral Reefs

The Oceans | Invasive Species

The Aquarius Habitat, the only underwater saturation environment on the planet, is a unique science lab; learn what and where the Hab is, why it’s useful for NASA, and what we do down there.

★ | 9 TOPICS

What covers less than 25% of the ocean floor, are among the largest living organisms on the planet, can live for thousands of years and impact the entire world? 

★ | 10 TOPICS

They may not all seem scary, but they’re monsters none-the-less.  What is an invasive species?  How does it invade new territory? What are some of the worst invasive species?  What’s being done to combat them? 

★ | 11 TOPICS

Module Review | The Aquarius & The Oceans

Sea to Space | Under Pressure

Sea to Space | ROVs and AUVs

Now that you’ve spent a bit of time swimming around the ocean and hanging out in the Hab, let’s find out what you’ve learned! 

★ | REVIEW

Why do your ears pop when you’re flying?  Why do you need air tanks when you dive?  What is pressure, and how does it affect us, both in the air and below the sea? 

★ | 9 TOPICS

Sometimes a job is too difficult or too dangerous for humans to perform, so how do robotic helpers handle the job not only in the sea, but in space as well? 

★ | 9 TOPICS

Sea to Space | Science of Sleep

Module Review | Sea to Space

The Solar System | Our Local Neighborhood

Sometimes a good night’s sleep is hard to find on land, but what about under the ocean or in space?  How does micro gravity affect your sleep cycles?  What’s happening in your brain while you sleep? 

★ | 9 TOPICS

Having trouble sleeping? Feeling the pressure? Dreaming of robots on Mars? Let’s see what you really know… 

★ | REVIEW

What’s the farthest distance you’ve ever traveled?  Did it take hours?  Days?  Years?  Our solar system is a huge place, but it’s worth exploring. 

★ | 9 TOPICS

The Solar System | The Suburbs 

The Solar System | …And Beyond!

Module Review | The Solar System

What’s the farthest distance you’ve ever traveled?  Did it take hours?  Days?  Years?  Our solar system is a huge place, but it’s worth exploring. 

★ | 12 TOPICS

Just what does the outer edge of our solar system look like, and how far out does it really extend? The answers might just surprise you!

★ | 9 TOPICS

You’ve travelled the solar system, you’ve searched for life in the universe, but did you learn anything? Let’s find out…

★ | REVIEW

Your Asteroid Academy Progress

 



Young Scientist Spotlight:
HANNAH HERBST

10 Fun Facts: The Hab

1. Aquarius is the the world’s only permanent undersea research station.

2. Most missions last about two or three weeks.

3. Fabien Cousteau, grandson of Jacques Cousteau, beat his grandfather’s record month-long underwater expedition by spending 31 days on the Aquarius Reef Base in 2014.

4. The lab is used by NASA, the US Navy, and researchers and educators from around the globe for training and research.

5. The internet connection is better in the Hab than at many places above the water.

6. You have to swim underneath the facility in order to enter it.

7. Crew members are called aquanauts (NOT aquaNUTS!)

8. In 1994, a crew of scientists and divers had to evacuate Aquarius and climb up a rescue line to the surface in 15-foot seas after one of the habitat’s generators caught fire.

9. Aquarius was featured in the comic strip Sherman’s Lagoon in 2012.

10. The Hab was originally built in Texas.

10 Fun Facts: Coral

1. Reefs usually grow up on the east shore of land masses.

2. Parts of a coral reef can be harvested to make medications to treat cancers and other illnesses.

3. A coral reef isn’t a single organism; it’s actually a community of life that lives and thrives in one location.

4. Only about one percent of the world’s oceans contain coral reefs. That’s about the size of France.

5. Coral reefs are the largest biological structures on earth.

6. Corals are related to jellyfish and anemones.

7. There are over 2,500 species of corals. About 1,000 are the hard corals that build coral reefs.

8. Reefs grow where there are stronger wave patterns and currents to deliver food and nutrients.

9. The Great Barrier Reef is 500,000 years old.

10. Most coral reefs grow just about two centimeters per year.

10. Most coral reefs grow just about two centimeters per year.

10 Fun Facts: Invasive Species

1. To be considered invasive, a species must adapt to a new area easily. It must reproduce quickly. It must harm property, the economy, or the native plants and animals of the region.

2. Some invasive species are introduced accidentally, but others are brought deliberately.

3. Ship ballast water transports between 3,000 and 7,000 foreign species daily around the globe.

4. The total loss to the world economy as a result of invasive non-native species has been estimated at 5% of annual production

5. Invasive species have contributed to 40% of the animal extinctions that have occurred in the last 400 years.

6. Rodents are some of the worst invasive species.

7. There are an estimated 50,000 wild ring-necked parakeets in parks across London and southeast England.

8. Black and Norway rats annually consume stored grains and destroy other property valued over $19 billion.

9. Northern Pacific seastars reproduce very quickly. In one area where they were introduced, their population reached an estimated 12 million seastars in just two years.

10. Starlings were introduced to New York in the late 1800s, as part of an attempt to bring animals that were mentioned in Shakespeare‘s work to America.

Alert: Cuteness Overload!

Cutest animal in the ocean? Keep your Sea Otter. Forget the Dumbo Octopus. Axolotl? Close, but no cigar.

The winner of the Cutest Sea Animal prize is the Leaf Sheep Slug.

Yes, a slug. This tiny (5mm) animal, found near the Philippines, Indonesia, and Japan, looks like a cartoon sheep covered in bright green leaves with pinkish purple tips.

Bonus: it’s one of the only animals that can perform photosynthesis, thanks to all the algae it eats.

Beat that.