Discovery Education Offers No-Cost Resources, Special Content Collection, and More to Engage Students in 2017’s Great American Eclipse Stephen Wakefield, Discovery Education240-662-5563, stephen_Wakefield@discovery.com –New Resources Empower Teachers to Bring this Unique Phenomena to Life for Students Nationwide- Silver Spring, Md. (Aug. 1, 2017) – Discovery Education, the leading provider of digital content and professional development for K-12 classrooms, is providing teachers and students nationwide a host of engaging digital resources to help them experience the Great American Eclipse on August 21, 2017, and integrate this unique learning opportunity into classroom instruction. Among the Discovery Education resources available to help educators ignite the inquiry process and students’ natural sense of curiosity about the eclipse are a number of no-cost classroom digital resources. Collected and reviewed by Discovery Education’s expert curriculum team, these resources include pictures and video explaining what actually occurs during an eclipse, information about the eclipse to help educators build-out classroom lessons around this phenomena, as well as a map detailing the 2017 Great American Eclipse’s march across North America. These resources can be found at www.discoveryeducation.com/GreatAmericanEclipse. Discovery Education has also placed additional digital resources within a special Great American Eclipse Content Collection. Accessible through both Discovery Education Streaming Plus and Discovery Education Science Techbook™, this special collection offers an even wider range of resources to support K-12 educators as they maximize the unique occasion of 2017’s coast to coast solar eclipse. Also, between 10am PT/1pm ET – 12pm PT/ 3pm ET on August 21st, Discovery Education will host a live Twitter chat with internationally recognized astronomer and Director of Lowell Observatory Dr. Jeffrey Hall. During this online Q & A, Dr. Hall will answer questions from students around the country about the Great American Eclipse and discuss the science behind different types of eclipses. In addition, courtesy of the Science Channel, Discovery Education’s Great American Eclipse homepage will stream a portion of the eclipse live from Madras, Oregon. Finally, throughout the day, Discovery Education’s Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts will provide educators and students updates on the progress of the eclipse, as well as a forum in which they can share their experiences and observations about this event using both #CelebrateWithDE and #GreatAmericanEclipse. “An event the size and scope of the Great American Eclipse is a great ‘teachable moment’ that can be used to engage students in a variety of topics,” said Peter Panico, a 5th Grade Teacher at the Rama Road Elementary School in North Carolina’s Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools. “I am looking forward to using the many Great American Eclipse resources Discovery Education is making available to jump-start my students’ thinking about this natural wonder.” Discovery Education Streaming Plus is a comprehensive digital service supporting instruction across all K-12 curricular areas. The high-quality digital resources included in Discovery Education Streaming Plus help build students’ mastery in interpreting, evaluating, and citing accurate information. Students can access images, primary source documents, podcasts, oral interviews, books on tape, articles, and videos, and more, and are empowered to become content creators with a suite of content creation tools that help teachers and students safely and easily collaborate in real-time on virtual projects. Teacher resources include lesson plans, instructional strategies, and content collections organized around themes, as well as a collection of new STEM resources designed to fuel a cultural shift in teaching and learning. Discovery Education’s Techbooks are breakthrough digital textbooks that are aligned to rigorous standards, support a comprehensive curriculum, and are updated regularly at no cost. The series encourages all learners through interactive features that change the reading level of text and enable text to be read aloud. The Techbook series saves teachers’ time with a comprehensive design that places model lessons, student activities and assessments at their fingertips. Techbooks are platform neutral and can be used in one-to-one or one-to-many configurations and in any instructional environment. Utilizing an inquiry-based format built on the 5E model, Discovery Education’s Science Techbook, through hands-on labs, digital explorations, an interactive glossary, and data analysis activities, helps teach students to read, write, and think like scientists. In addition, the Science Techbook also features a variety of STEM resources that help educators create engaging STEM learning experiences in their classrooms. “While an event such as the Great American Eclipse comes but once a generation, it has the potential to be a learning experience for students that can last a lifetime,” said Marty Creel, Discovery Education’s Chief Academic Officer and Vice President of Digital Instruction. “Discovery Education is pleased to provide these engaging resources to teachers and students nationwide. Our hope is that these materials will help inspire an interest in the scientific world among all who witness the Great American Eclipse.” For more information about Discovery Education Streaming Plus or the Discovery Education’s Techbooks, visit, www.discoveryeducation.com, and stay connected with Discovery Education on social media through Facebook, follow us on Twitter at @DiscoveryEd, or find us on Instagram and Pinterest. ###About Discovery EducationDiscovery Education is the global leader in standards-based digital content for K-12, transforming teaching and learning with award-winning digital textbooks, multimedia content, professional development, and the largest professional learning community of its kind. Serving 4.5 million educators and over 50 million students, Discovery Education’s services are in half of U.S. classrooms, 50 percent of all primary schools in the UK, and more than 50 countries. Discovery Education partners with districts, states, and like-minded organizations to captivate students, empower teachers, and transform classrooms with customized solutions that increase academic achievement. Discovery Education is powered by Discovery Communications (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK), the number one nonfiction media company in the world. Explore the future of education at www.discoveryeducation.com.