News - North America
NASA Goddard Offers Water Tent to Organizations in 11 States
GLOBE Partners at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center received funding for an Earth Around Us water tent with the goal of introducing participants to the spheres of the Earth and how they interact. The partnership used the NASA Goddard OSTEM Office listserv to promote the water tent to schools, museums, environmental centers, and other organizations in 11 northeastern states.
As an introduction to the concept, the GLOBE Partners provided links to NASA and GLOBE resources that would prepare participants for engaging with the tent. Examples of introductory materials included a NASA activity “Spheres of Earth,” Elementary GLOBE storybooks “All About Earth: Our World on Stage” and “Discoveries at Willow Creek,” as well as complementary learning activities.
When the tent was in use, participants reviewed the ideas discussed in “Discoveries at Willow Creek” and conducted water tests, including temperature, pH, transparency, and macroinvertebrates.
On August 7 and 14, NASA Goddard’s water tent deployed to Buttonwood Nature Center in Pennsylvania for a Streams Day Camp with youth ages 7–12. The goal of the camp was to foster connections between participants and their local water systems. With that in mind, campers got their feet wet as they explored a stream looking for macroinvertebrates. Campers identified the macroinvertebrates under the shade of the water tent and learned how they are indicators of stream health. They also compared the macroinvertebrates they found to ones found on the tent murals.
The water tent was also part of a culminating activity with the Millersville University Department of Education Lifelong Learners program. NASA Goddard’s GLOBE team along with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation held five GLOBE training sessions at Millersville University over a five-month period. Throughout the sessions, participants learned about the GLOBE Program and the GLOBE Observer app. At the culminating event, participants collected data and observations in a stream that runs through the Millersville University campus, including water temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, electrical conductivity, and macroinvertebrate identification.
Story and photo contributed by Todd Toth, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
The GLOBE Partnership Earth Around Us Tents development was made possible by support from the USDA Forest Service, Eastern Region (Agreement Number 21-CS-11090100-035).
News origin: United States of America