Blogs

Audience: Everyone! (Students and teachers all grade levels, informal educators, and the general public)

Dates: July 15, 2020 - August 15, 2020

How to Participate: Spend summer together by discovering clouds from a new perspective. There are many ways to participate. Learn more about clouds with NASA scientists and educators each Thursday on NASA Earth’s Facebook page, do at-home activities, or take cloud or sky observations through the Clouds tool on GLOBE or the GLOBE Observer app. It is all up to you! Show how you took part in this unique event by sharing on social media.

Choose how you want to participate (3 different ways)

  • Learn about clouds with NASA scientists and educators: Every Thursday you will get a chance to learn more about clouds from NASA scientists. Watch the video premier on Facebook (@NASAEarth) and ask questions. Each week will also feature a video of an activity that can be done at home.                                                                                                                                                               Scroll below to see the list of topics featured every week.
  • Do an At-Home Activity: Each week an activity will be featured related to the topic discussed by the NASA scientist. Share with us your results through social media using #GLOBE or tagging GLOBE. You can also complete an activity from the cloud activity tracker each day you participate.

Visit https://observer.globe.gov/cloud-challenge-2020 for more information

about each activity listed in the table.

Click on the image to download the Cloud Activity Tracker

Learning about clouds Engage with the community Creating with clouds Observing clouds

Learn more about cloud opacity

Tune in on Thursday, July 30th at noon EST on www.facebook.com/nasaEarth

Tell a friend about your

favorite type of cloud

Estimate Cloud Cover

Tune in on 

Thursday, July 16th at noon EST on www.facebook.com/nasaEarth

Take a Clouds observation through GLOBE or using the GLOBE Observer app

 Explore clouds data in the 

GLOBE Visualization System

Create a GLOBE team Make cloud art

Download the 

GLOBE Observer app

Watch the "GLOBE Observer: Clouds - Getting Started" video

     Share your favorite cloud photo

with a friend or on social media (#CloudChallenge)

    Construct an Aerosol Sampler 

(“Up in the Air” Activity)

Tune in on 

Thursday, August 6th at noon EST on www.facebook.com/nasaEarth

Take an observation during a satellite flyover

Video available on how to read a satellite match table

Read an Earth Observatory article about clouds   Tell us why you love science with a friend or on social media (#CloudChallenge)

Create a Cloud in a Jar

Tune in on 

Thursday, July 23rd at noon EST on www.facebook.com/nasaEarth

Take 10 observations
Check out the NASA GLOBE Clouds page or the GLOBE Observer Clouds Science page

Follow GLOBE on social media:

(click on the symbols)

 

Contribute to a show for

the Fiske Planetarium

Start a nature journal

Tune in on 

Thursday, August 13th at noon EST on www.facebook.com/nasaEarth

 

  • Take Cloud and Sky Observations: Safety first! Just like NASA scientists, we ask that you always be safe and follow your local regulations. Taking observations is optional for this event. Help by submitting clouds, dust, haze or smoke observations to GLOBE using any of GLOBE’s data entry tools including the clouds tool on the GLOBE Observer mobile app. GLOBE welcomes citizen scientists, educators, students and STEM professionals. Follow the directions for creating an account at: https://www.globe.gov/get-started/get-started-overview . If you are NOT in a GLOBE country, you may enter your cloud observations through NASA S'COOL rover

 

Thursday, July 9th @ Noon ET

 

Science Topic: Satellite Matches to GLOBE  Cloud Observations

NASA GLOBE Clouds

Project Scientist Marilé Colón Robles

and Scientific Programmer Tina Rogerson

NASA Langley Research Center

 Join Marilé Colón Robles and Tina Rogerson as they share why satellite matches to GLOBE cloud observations are important and how they are done.

Get to know more about them! Marilé, born and raised in Puerto Rico, loves volleyball and music (link). A Poquoson, VA native, Tina loves going to the beach and solving puzzles (link).

At-Home Activity:

Reading a Satellite Match Table 

NASA Educator Heather Mortimer

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Join NASA Educator and graphic designer Heather Mortimer as she walks through her own cloud observations and satellite matches. To do this activity all you need is to make a cloud observation through GLOBE or using the GLOBE Observer app during a satellite flyover time and use the satellite match table you receive.

 

 

Thursday, July 16th @ Noon ET

 

Science Topic: What is Citizen Science?

Atmospheric Scientist Jessica Taylor

NASA Langley Research Center

 Jessica Taylor will share how she started in GLOBE   as a student and her path to NASA. Learn more  about citizen science and why is it important for NASA. This former Latin dance instructor loves reaching out to students all around the world as she grew up in Florida and in Mexico (link).

At-Home Activity: Cloud Cover Estimation 

Join Jessica Taylor and her two daughters as they try out the Cloud Cover Estimation activity. To do this activity all you need is paper (white and blue), scissors, glue or tape, and a marker or pencil.

 

 

Thursday, July 23rd @ Noon ET

 

Science Topic: Clouds and Weather

from 22,000 miles away

Atmospheric Scientist Kris Bedka

NASA Langley Research Center

  Kris Bedka will teach us how clouds relate to weather and how data from geostationary satellites are used to study clouds.

Kris, a Chicago native, enjoys sports, gardening and landscaping, and eating ethnic foods (link).

At-Home Activity: Cloud Cookery

Camp Counselor Lucy Ellisor

Camp Discovery in Blythewood, SC

Join Camp Discovery Camp Counselor Lucy Ellisor and her brother Deon as they do the cloud cookery activity. All you need to do this activity is warm water,   a metal tray or cookie sheet, ice, a see-through jar, and a match.

 

Thursday, July 30th @ Noon ET

Science Topic: Clouds and Earth’s Climate

Atmospheric Scientist Patrick Taylor

NASA Langley Research Center

   Patrick Taylor will discuss how he studies clouds  to look at our changing climate and analyzes data from Low Earth Orbit satellites.

  Patrick started his passion for weather when he   was in fourth grade at Greenwood Elementary   School in Millerstown, Pennsylvania (link).

 

At-Home Activity: Cloud Clues (Opacity)

GLOBE Educators Joselyn Hathaway

River Road Middle School in Elizabeth City, NC

and Wanda Hathaway

Churchland Middle School in Portsmouth, VA

Join this mother and daughter duo as they do the SciGirls’ cloud clues activity. All you need to do this activity is a transparent item (like cellophane or a bottle full of water), translucent items (like wax paper or tissue paper), opaque items (like construction   paper or aluminum foil), a light source and white paper.

 

Thursday, August 6th @ Noon ET

 

Science Topic: Aerosols and Air Quality

Research Scientist Kristina Pistone

Bay Area Environmental Research Institute at

NASA Ames Research Center

Kristina Pistone will talk about aerosols, why NASA studies them, and how they are related to clouds.

Kristina speaks different languages, loves to travel and meet new people as much as she loves collecting data (link).

 

 

At-Home Activity: 

Up In The Air (Aerosol Catcher)

NASA Educator Angela Rizzi

and Atmospheric Scientist Ali Omar

NASA Langley Research Center

  Join NASA Educator Angie Rizzi as she does the Up   In The Air activity that is part of the Elementary   GLOBE storybooks series. NASA Scientist Ali Omar will talk about the types of aerosols you can see and cannot see with your eyes.

All you need to do this activity is a copy of the student activity sheet, clear contact paper or tape, a piece of cardboard, a magnifying glass, and a six-sided dice.

 

 

Thursday, August 13th @ Noon ET

Science Topic: The Impact of

Your Observations in Research

Atmospheric Scientist J. Brant Dodson

NASA Langley Research Center

Brant Dodson will explain the power of citizen science observations and how GLOBE and GLOBE Observer cloud observations are being used in his research.

This Houston, TX native loves looking up at the skies day and night as he is also a backyard astronomer (link)

 

At-Home Activity: Cloud Fun (Nature Journal)

GLOBE Educator Veshell Lewis

Jackson Public Schools and

University of Southern Mississippi

Join GLOBE educator Veshell Lewis as she does the Cloud Fun activity that is part of the Elementary GLOBE books series. All you need to do this activity  is the free Elementary GLOBE storybook: Do You Know That Clouds Have Names?, paper, the GLOBE cloud chart, newspaper, white paper, glue or glue sticks, markers or pencils, and cloud fun activity sheet.

 

 

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