NASA’s popular educational Web site, Space Place, has
announced a new Spanish-language version for children and
their families.
The Web site at http://spaceplace.jpl.nasa.gov and its
new Spanish companion at
http://spaceplace.jpl.nasa.gov/espanol serve children 8 to 13
years of age. The site contains approximately 40 activities,
including games and “amazing facts” about space, Earth and
NASA.
The 2000 census data shows that Spanish is the primary
language for more than 27 million people living in the U.S.
Of those, nearly 13 million feel they do not speak English
very well.
“This Web site is dedicated to reaching that audience.
NASA is committed to explaining the results of its programs to
the entire American public in all its diversity,” said Dr.
Jeffrey Rosendhal, education and outreach director of NASA’s
Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C.
The Space Place site launched in early 1998 and continues
to add new activities every month. Its educational value has
been recognized by the National Science Teachers Association,
the International Technology Education Association, Griffith
Observatory in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Times, USA Today
and several children’s educational Web sites.
The Space Place is an outreach effort of the New
Millennium Program, managed for NASA by the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. JPL is a division of the
California Institute of Technology, also in Pasadena.
