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Friday, February 2nd is Groundhog Day and some of us will be waiting to see if Punxsutawney Phil saw a shadow or not! Punxsutawney Phil and other groundhogs have been predicting the arrival of Spring for many years and has intrigued us all.   NASA Education Specialist Dr. Anne Weiss NASA Education specialist at NASA Langley Research Center, Dr. Anne Weiss, was gathering cloud and temperature data while visiting her nephews (3rd, 5th, and 8th grade) when they got talking about Punxsutawney Phil. Her nephews were questioning if Punxsutawney Phil’s forecast would affect ...


Posted in: Curriculum: EDUCATION RESEARCH SCIENCE AND MATH   GLOBE Science Topics: BACKYARD SCIENCE GENERAL SCIENCE GLOBE PROTOCOLS SCIENTIST SKILLS   Investigation Areas: CLOUDS   Learning Activities: ESTIMATING CLOUD COVER   Primary Audience: STUDENTS TEACHERS TRAINERS


Satellites can detect and collect a lot of observations in very short amount of time. It is simple to think that anything that is white in an image is a cloud. Well, not always.  Look at these beautiful images taken by the GOES 16 satellite of the recent "Winter Weather Bomb" that left a blanket of snow from South Georgia to New England on January 4, 2018. Click here and watch a loop of images from the GOES 16 satellite for January 4, 2018. GOES 16 Image taken on January 4, 2018 at 171720Z GOES 16 Image taken on January 4, 2018 at 201720Z   ...


Posted in: Curriculum: EDUCATION RESEARCH STEM   Event Topics: OTHER   GLOBE Science Topics: BACKYARD SCIENCE CLIMATE GENERAL SCIENCE GLOBE PROTOCOLS SCIENTIST SKILLS   Investigation Areas: CLOUDS   Learning Activities: ATMOSPHERE AND CLIMATE   Primary Audience: PARTNERS SCIENTISTS STUDENTS TEACHERS TRAINERS


Here at NASA Langley we've started the year with snow, and lots of it! Has all this snow and weather gotten you hooked on the weather? Do you like to watch the weather reports on TV or on your phone? Dr. Yolanda Shea, a scientist at NASA Langley Research Center, used to do just that when she was younger. See what inspired her and how she became a NASA scientist! Comment and share how this video inspires you! Also, with all this snow on the ground, be sure to submit your cloud reports! Enter your data through GLOBE or use the  GLOBE Observer app and follow ...


Posted in: Curriculum: STEM   GLOBE Science Topics: BACKYARD SCIENCE GENERAL SCIENCE SCIENTIST SKILLS   Primary Audience: COUNTRY COORDINATORS PARTNERS STUDENTS TEACHERS TRAINERS


Too much water can have devastating consequences when it falls too quickly on Earth's surface. On January 9th, the " Water in Our Environment " webinar will spotlight the experiences of our GLOBE community in Asia and the Pacific.  Earlier this week in the Philippines, tropical cyclone Kai-Tak wrecked havoc on this region as it caused extreme flooding and landslides . On December 4th and 5th, tropical cyclone Ockhi was the strongest cyclone to develop in the Arabian Sea since 2015, and it brought intense rainfall to the western part of India. A recent CNN report stated ...


Posted in: Curriculum: SCIENCE AND MATH STEM   Event Topics: CAMPAIGNS AND PROJECTS (IOPS, ETC)   Field Campaigns: WATERSHEDS SMAP EL NIÑO GPM   GLOBE Science Topics: BACKYARD SCIENCE CLIMATE CLIMATE CHANGE DATA INCLUDED GENERAL SCIENCE GLOBE PROTOCOLS EARTH AS A SYSTEM EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE SCIENTIST SKILLS   Investigation Areas: ATMOSPHERE HYDROSPHERE EARTH AS A SYSTEM PEDOSPHERE (SOIL) BIOSPHERE   Learning Activities: ATMOSPHERE AND CLIMATE EARTH AS A SYSTEM HYDROLOGY LAND COVER/BIOLOGY SOIL   News Topics: CALENDAR TRAINING   Primary Audience: ALUMNI COUNTRY COORDINATORS PARTNERS SCIENTISTS STUDENTS TEACHERS TRAINERS   Teacher's Guide: INVESTIGATION AREA DOCUMENTS


Learning science involves learning important concepts, conducting experiments to see first-hand how researchers discovered and confirmed some elements of science concepts, and learning how to think scientifically. With this complete approach to learning science, students are well-prepared to deal with the natural world around them and to make wise decisions when confronted with various choices. The ability to think scientifically is a valuable skill in almost all aspects of life and doing science teaches scientific habits of mind. Students can do science through research projects ...


Posted in: Curriculum: SCIENCE AND MATH STEM   GLOBE Science Topics: BACKYARD SCIENCE GENERAL SCIENCE SCIENTIST SKILLS   GLOBE Working Groups: SCIENCE WORKING GROUP   Investigation Areas: ATMOSPHERE HYDROSPHERE EARTH AS A SYSTEM PEDOSPHERE (SOIL) BIOSPHERE   News Topics: COMPETITIONS VIRTUAL SCIENCE FAIR   Primary Audience: COUNTRY COORDINATORS PARTNERS STUDENTS TEACHERS


Many of us are so used to having clean freshwater that is easily accessible that we don't often stop to marvel at the fact that we are incredibly fortunate. The majority of our freshwater comes from our water cycle, and precipitation is unevenly distributed across the globe. You can learn more about the importance of clean freshwater resources in this "one-pager" entitled " Precious Freshness ".   During our ENSO Phase III Webinar #3, we will be focusing on water quality in Europe and Eurasia. We will host this webinar at 18:30 UCT, and hope we will have many of you from ...


Posted in: Curriculum: LANGUAGE CULTURE AND ARTS SCIENCE AND MATH STEM   Event Topics: CAMPAIGNS AND PROJECTS (IOPS, ETC) SCIENCE SYMPOSIA AND FAIRS   Field Campaigns: WATERSHEDS EL NIÑO   GLOBE Science Topics: GENERAL SCIENCE GLOBE PROTOCOLS EARTH AS A SYSTEM SCIENTIST SKILLS   GLOBE Working Groups: SCIENCE WORKING GROUP EDUCATION WORKING GROUP   Investigation Areas: HYDROSPHERE   Learning Activities: ATMOSPHERE AND CLIMATE HYDROLOGY   News Topics: SCRC RESEARCH VIRTUAL SCIENCE FAIR   Primary Audience: ALUMNI COUNTRY COORDINATORS PARTNERS SCIENTISTS STUDENTS TEACHERS TRAINERS


As Earth science has a single uncontrolled object of study, the first rule is to take today’s data today. While ice and sediment cores and fossils can reveal past conditions, the observations that can be made right now cannot be replaced by ones taken later. This goes well with the Native American adage, “You can’t step in the same river twice.” The environment is constantly changing and doing so on a wide range of time and space scales. In a recent video post, Neil deGrasse Tyson said, “One of the great things about science is that it is an entire exercise finding what is true. You ...


Posted in: Curriculum: SCIENCE AND MATH   Event Topics: CAMPAIGNS AND PROJECTS (IOPS, ETC) GLOBE LEARNING EXPEDITIONS SCIENCE SYMPOSIA AND FAIRS   Field Campaigns: SMAP EL NIÑO   GLOBE Science Topics: CLIMATE CLIMATE CHANGE GENERAL SCIENCE EARTH AS A SYSTEM EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE   Investigation Areas: EARTH AS A SYSTEM   Primary Audience: ALUMNI STUDENTS TEACHERS


Please welcome Guest Blogger Shona Emery , a GLOBE 5th/6th Grade STEAM Teacher from Ellis School in Fremont, New Hampshire. This blog is the fourth in a series of posts by GLOBE teachers sharing classroom experiences to support the student research process. The series is supported by NSF funding for the United States Regional Student Research Symposia . If you are a teacher interested in contributing, please contact Haley Wicklein for more information. Specifically, we would love to hear from teachers who can share challenges and advice around the topic of student data ...


Posted in: Curriculum: SCIENCE AND MATH   Event Topics: SCIENCE SYMPOSIA AND FAIRS   GLOBE Science Topics: GENERAL SCIENCE GLOBE PROTOCOLS SCIENTIST SKILLS   Investigation Areas: HYDROSPHERE WATER TRANSPARENCY WATER TEMPERATURE PH DISSOLVED OXYGEN FRESHWATER MACROINVERTEBRATES   Learning Activities: PRACTICING YOUR PROTOCOLS   Primary Audience: TEACHERS   Teacher's Guide: MIDDLE: 6-8 UPPER PRIMARY: 3-5 DATA SHEETS FIELD GUIDES PROTOCOL INSTRUCTIONS SITE DEFINITION SHEETS


Please welcome Guest Blogger Jayme Margolin-Sneider , a GLOBE 6-8 grade science teacher and STEM Advisor from Westview Middle School in Longmont, Colorado.   This is the second in a series of posts by GLOBE teachers sharing classroom experiences to support the student research process. The series is supported by NSF funding for the United States Regional Student Research Symposia . If you are a teacher interested in contributing, please contact Haley Wicklein for more information. Thank you to Jayme for sharing this! Last year, I had two different groups of ...


Posted in: Curriculum: SCIENCE AND MATH   Event Topics: SCIENCE SYMPOSIA AND FAIRS COMPETITIONS MEETINGS   GLOBE Science Topics: DATA INCLUDED GENERAL SCIENCE GLOBE PROTOCOLS SCIENTIST SKILLS MEETINGS/CONFERENCES   News Topics: COMPETITIONS MEETINGS REGIONS   Primary Audience: PARTNERS STUDENTS TEACHERS


There will be a special Google hangout for GLOBE teachers and scientists on Feb 15 at 7pm (ET ).  During this event, we will learn about the results of the research from several scientists who were onboard the research vessel, and will have a chance to ask questions about this work and results.   http://bit.ly/2lL4Kgd No registration required- open to any GLOBE teacher and/or scientist! Please share this! GLOBE Educator Webinar - Feb 15, 7pm ET Agenda below: Overview (~45 min program) Learn about an ongoing Earth science expedition with NASA scientists ...


Posted in: Curriculum: SCIENCE AND MATH TECHNOLOGY   Event Topics: CAMPAIGNS AND PROJECTS (IOPS, ETC)   Field Campaigns: EL NIÑO   GLOBE Science Topics: CLIMATE CLIMATE CHANGE GENERAL SCIENCE EARTH AS A SYSTEM EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE SCIENTIST SKILLS   Investigation Areas: ATMOSPHERE HYDROSPHERE EARTH AS A SYSTEM BIOSPHERE   Learning Activities: ATMOSPHERE AND CLIMATE EARTH AS A SYSTEM HYDROLOGY   News Topics: SCRC RESEARCH   Primary Audience: ALUMNI COUNTRY COORDINATORS PARTNERS SCIENTISTS TEACHERS TRAINERS


Please welcome Haley Wicklein from the NH Leitzel Center GLOBE Partnership as a guest blogger. Haley is very familiar with GLOBE through her work on the GLOBE Carbon Cycle project. She was an elementary school science specialist and has now returned to the University of New Hampshire! There are new GLOBE Weather Stations at work at six schools in NH! This fall, Jen Bourgeault and I traveled to schools across New Hampshire to help install GLOBE Weather Stations.  With these stations, the students will monitor soil and air temperature, relative humidity, and rainfall as they ...


Posted in: GLOBE Science Topics: GENERAL SCIENCE SCIENTIST SKILLS   Investigation Areas: ATMOSPHERE RELATIVE HUMIDITY PRECIPITATION AIR TEMPERATURE   Primary Audience: TEACHERS   Teacher's Guide: SITE DEFINITION SHEET


In most scientific research an important test is whether the results of an experiment can be repeated, typically repeated by another lab and research group. A result that cannot be confirmed in this way is generally viewed as invalid. This is a great test for controlled experiments where virtually identical experimental conditions may be achieved. In Earth science research involving observations of the natural world, experimental conditions cannot be reproduced. For environmental research the standard must switch for repeatable to intercomparable – capable of being compared. ...


Posted in: GLOBE Science Topics: BACKYARD SCIENCE GENERAL SCIENCE GLOBE PROTOCOLS EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE   Investigation Areas: ATMOSPHERE HYDROSPHERE PEDOSPHERE (SOIL) BIOSPHERE   Primary Audience: ALUMNI SCIENTISTS STUDENTS TEACHERS TRAINERS


Bird Beaks and What they Eat Overview:  Students identify ideal beak shape for food. Age: Upper primary (4th and 5th graders) assisted 1st graders Materials: Bird beak/food handout Straws Dixie cups Juice Tweezers Bowls Wild grain rice Slotted spoons Cooked noodles (macaroni or similarly shaped) Chopsticks Gummy bears White rice Scissors Marshmallows (jumbo) Plan: Ask students why birds have beaks and what they are used for - allow time for discussion. Read a book about beaks to the group. I used ...


Posted in: Curriculum: SCIENCE AND MATH   GLOBE Science Topics: GENERAL SCIENCE   Learning Activities: LAND COVER/BIOLOGY   Primary Audience: STUDENTS TEACHERS


Guest Blog by NASA SMAP Scientists Dr. Erika Podest and Dr. Narendra Das of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California USA. SMAP scientists are using soil moisture in a number of ways, ways that allow all of us to better understand water’s role on Earth: Weather Prediction : Water in the soil has the potential to evaporate (depending on atmospheric temperature and pressure) and when it does it plays a large role in cloud formation. Soil moisture also has a modulating effect on air temperature and humidity therefore having the ability to measure soil moisture ...


Posted in: Field Campaigns: SMAP   GLOBE Science Topics: GENERAL SCIENCE GLOBE PROTOCOLS EARTH AS A SYSTEM EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE SCIENTIST SKILLS   Investigation Areas: PEDOSPHERE (SOIL)   Primary Audience: ALUMNI COUNTRY COORDINATORS PARTNERS SCIENTISTS STUDENTS TEACHERS TRAINERS


This week’s blog post comes to us from Dr. Janis Steele and Dr. Brooks McCutchen. Drs. Steele and McCutchen, along with their three sons, have been aboard Research Vessel Llyr since April 24, 2013. Read about their adventure in the Intertropical Convergence Zone here . When people think of life in the seas, it is often the majestic that comes to mind, such aswhales, sharks, rays and coral reefs, or our own sustenance in the form of the fish that feed billions of us around the world.  Rarely do we think of plankton, the tiny organisms found across the world's oceans. Plankton ...


Posted in: GLOBE Science Topics: GENERAL SCIENCE EARTH AS A SYSTEM   Investigation Areas: HYDROSPHERE


Blog originally posted on The GLOBE Scientists' Blog: http://blog.globe.gov/sciblog/2013/06/26/north-america-and-hurricane-vulnerability-a-project-to-improve-forecasts/ The month of June brings with it hurricane season in the North Atlantic Ocean basin. Both countries in GLOBE’s North America Region, Canada and the United States, are affected by these storms.  It is important to remember that tropical cyclones are named differently in various locations.  In the Atlantic and east of the International Date Line in the North Pacific, they’re called hurricanes.  In the ...


Posted in: GLOBE Science Topics: GENERAL SCIENCE


Blog originally posted on The GLOBE Scientists' Blog: http://blog.globe.gov/sciblog/2013/05/08/from-the-desk-of-a-globe-teacher-part-4-participating-in-a-globe-virtual-student-conference/ This week we have a guest blogger, Ms. Marcy Burns.  Ms. Burns is a fifth grade teacher at Main Street Intermediate School in Norwalk, Ohio.  As a participant of phase one of the Learning2Research Project, her students were able to submit a project and participate in the first virtual conference and she feels  The GLOBE Program has been a great tool for engaging her students ...


Posted in: GLOBE Science Topics: GENERAL SCIENCE


Blog originally posted on The GLOBE Scientists' Blog: http://blog.globe.gov/sciblog/2013/03/06/connecting-pollutants-and-air-temperature-in-the-maldives/ With climate change, there are many relationships that are understood, and many others that are not.  Dr. Veerabhadran Ramanathan from The Scripps Institute  in San Diego has spent the last fifteen years in the Maldives, a nation south of India that is comprised of over 1,200 islands, studying the relationship between air pollutants, cloud formation and air temperature. The Maldives are a great location for ...


Posted in: Field Campaigns: CARBON CYCLE   GLOBE Science Topics: CLIMATE CLIMATE CHANGE GENERAL SCIENCE   Investigation Areas: ATMOSPHERE


Blog originally posted on the GLOBE Scientists' Blog: http://blog.globe.gov/sciblog/2013/02/21/capturing-plant-green-up-through-your-lens/ This week we have a guest blogger, Jessica Taylor . Jessica has been active as a GLOBE observer and trainer since 2001 and is a Master Trainer at NASA Langley Research Center. She conducts regular GLOBE Teacher Workshops in the areas of atmosphere and phenology investigations and works with several NASA missions to integrate GLOBE activities into their educational outreach efforts. Whenever I talk with teachers about studying ...


Posted in: GLOBE Science Topics: GENERAL SCIENCE EARTH AS A SYSTEM   Investigation Areas: GREEN-UP / GREEN-DOWN


Blog originally posted on The GLOBE Scientists' Blog: http://blog.globe.gov/sciblog/2013/02/13/globe-and-the-landsat-launch/ This week we have a guest blogger, Jennifer Bourgeault .  Jennifer, a member of the GLOBE Land Cover/Biology Team for 10 years, is the North Country Education Services (NCES) New Hampshire GLOBE Partnership coordinator and Master Trainer in the Land Cover/Biology protocols.  She thinks everyone should know how to use the Modified UNESCO Classification (MUC) Field Guide to classify land cover and how to use Multispec to look at change ...


Posted in: GLOBE Science Topics: GENERAL SCIENCE EARTH AS A SYSTEM   Investigation Areas: BIOSPHERE