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Community Blogs
Discover how the GLOBE community is engaging in all things GLOBE through the community blog posts below.
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The 2019 GLOBE International Virtual Science Symposium important dates and rubrics are now available! The GLOBE Clouds team at NASA Langley Research Center would love to see you use cloud observations in your research!
Do you need some ideas? Here are a few. Also, don't forget about the blog on how to come up with a good research question .
K-2nd grade:
- What is the cloud type observed the most during Fall/Spring/Summer (choose one or a different period of time)?
- Which cloud type, nimbostratus or cumulonimbus, produces the most ...
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Posted in:
Curriculum:
STEM
EDUCATION RESEARCH
SCIENCE AND MATH
TECHNOLOGY
Event Topics:
SCIENCE SYMPOSIA AND FAIRS
GLOBE Science Topics:
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE
GLOBE PROTOCOLS
GENERAL SCIENCE
BACKYARD SCIENCE
CLIMATE
Primary Audience:
TRAINERS
TEACHERS
STUDENTS
PARTNERS
SCIENTISTS
ALUMNI
COUNTRY COORDINATORS
Whenever you submit a cloud observations, the GLOBE Clouds team at NASA Langley Research Center looks for satellites that were over your area at about the same time. The team then gathers the information from these satellites and compares them to your own observations. The result is a satellite match table that you receive through an email!
The table allows you to compare what you saw and what the satellite noted. You also have the actual satellite image at the bottom of the table! A new "How to Read a Satellite Match" page is available for you to learn ...
Posted in:
Curriculum:
EDUCATION RESEARCH
SCIENCE AND MATH
Event Topics:
SCIENCE SYMPOSIA AND FAIRS
GLOBE Science Topics:
SCIENTIST SKILLS
GLOBE PROTOCOLS
GENERAL SCIENCE
Investigation Areas:
ATMOSPHERE
Learning Activities:
ATMOSPHERE AND CLIMATE
News Topics:
VIRTUAL SCIENCE FAIR
Primary Audience:
TRAINERS
TEACHERS
STUDENTS
PARTNERS
SCIENTISTS
COUNTRY COORDINATORS
Clouds are amazing to observe and always seem to capture the attention of all, from little ones to the young at heart. The GLOBE Clouds team would like to help all of those that would be interested in doing research with clouds. A good research question is always tricky so here are some tips and ideas to get you started!
What is a good research question?
It is not always easy to come up with a research question, but GLOBE has a good checklist to help you out! You can even assign points and see how many points does your question total as a good research question. A ...
Posted in:
Curriculum:
STEM
EDUCATION RESEARCH
SCIENCE AND MATH
Event Topics:
CAMPAIGNS AND PROJECTS (IOPS, ETC)
SCIENCE SYMPOSIA AND FAIRS
GLOBE Science Topics:
SCIENTIST SKILLS
GLOBE PROTOCOLS
GENERAL SCIENCE
DATA INCLUDED
BACKYARD SCIENCE
CLIMATE
Investigation Areas:
CLOUDS
Learning Activities:
ATMOSPHERE AND CLIMATE
News Topics:
VIRTUAL SCIENCE FAIR
Primary Audience:
TEACHERS
TRAINERS
STUDENTS
PARTNERS
ALUMNI
Teacher's Guide:
GRADE LEVELS
INVESTIGATION AREA DOCUMENTS
I've been digging through my Inbox, trying to clear out some of the large files from the past. I'm at a critical point as these files are triggering invitations to buy more space for storage. Rather than doing that, I'm deleting instead!
But during this process, I've come across some resources and discussions that I always seem to forget exist already on the GLOBE website. I thought that perhaps I'd write a couple blog posts and point out some of these for anyone following my blog.
This first one is a training agenda from 2003! A group of us were invited to Washington, D.C. to work ...
Posted in:
Curriculum:
SCIENCE AND MATH
GLOBE Science Topics:
GENERAL SCIENCE
GLOBE PROTOCOLS
SCIENTIST SKILLS
Investigation Areas:
BIOMETRY (INCLUDING TREE HEIGHT)
BIOSPHERE
LAND COVER CLASSIFICATION
We had a fabulous webinar this afternoon in which students in both North America and South America shared their work on using GLOBE protocols to learn more about water in their environment. Meriam Kalloe, the GLOBE Assistant Country Coordinator for Suriname, brought together many students from Anton Resida Middle School who shared information on their use of several GLOBE hydrology protocols to study the quality of water in three locations near their school. They plan to continue to monitor the quality of the water in those three sites. Then Jeff Bouwman's middle school students ...
Posted in:
Curriculum:
STEM
SCIENCE AND MATH
Event Topics:
CAMPAIGNS AND PROJECTS (IOPS, ETC)
SCIENCE SYMPOSIA AND FAIRS
Field Campaigns:
EL NIÑO
SMAP
GPM
GLOBE Science Topics:
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE
GENERAL SCIENCE
GENERAL SCIENCE @ES
CLIMATE CHANGE
DATA INCLUDED
BACKYARD SCIENCE
MEETINGS/CONFERENCES
CLIMATE
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
SCIENTIST SKILLS
GLOBE PROTOCOLS
GLOBE Working Groups:
EDUCATION WORKING GROUP
Investigation Areas:
ATMOSPHERE
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
HYDROSPHERE
PEDOSPHERE (SOIL)
BIOSPHERE
Learning Activities:
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
ATMOSPHERE AND CLIMATE
LAND COVER/BIOLOGY
HYDROLOGY
SOIL
News Topics:
VIRTUAL SCIENCE FAIR
SCRC RESEARCH
Primary Audience:
PARTNERS
SCIENTISTS
ALUMNI
COUNTRY COORDINATORS
TRAINERS
TEACHERS
STUDENTS
Teacher's Guide:
INVESTIGATION AREA DOCUMENTS
Eight-grade students from Our Lady of Mount Carmel School have been very active during our GLOBE 2017-18 U.S. Air Quality Student Research Campaign. In fact, they recently submitted their team projects to the GLOBE 2018 International Virtual Science Symposium. All students have done remarkable work and one of the most important skills they have developed is collaboration. Among these students, one of them stood out for becoming a Calitoo expert user and for helping not only the members of her own team, but also the members of all other teams, with her accurate AOT measurements.
This ...
Posted in:
Curriculum:
STEM
SCIENCE AND MATH
Event Topics:
CAMPAIGNS AND PROJECTS (IOPS, ETC)
GLOBE Science Topics:
GENERAL SCIENCE
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE
GLOBE PROTOCOLS
GLOBE Working Groups:
SCIENCE WORKING GROUP
Investigation Areas:
AEROSOLS
Primary Audience:
TEACHERS
STUDENTS
PARTNERS
The GLOBE Clouds team got to celebrate World Meteorological Day with the Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization, Dr. Petteri Taalas through a Facebook live filmed live from NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA.
Join the celebration by watching the recorded Facebook live below.
View event on Facebook at - https://www.facebook.com/nasaearth/videos/10156418942207139/
Posted in:
Curriculum:
STEM
EDUCATION RESEARCH
SCIENCE AND MATH
Event Topics:
OTHER
GLOBE Science Topics:
GENERAL SCIENCE
BACKYARD SCIENCE
Primary Audience:
TRAINERS
TEACHERS
STUDENTS
PARTNERS
SCIENTISTS
ALUMNI
COUNTRY COORDINATORS
Bill Smith, left, along with Kris Bedka.
The NASA GLOBE Clouds team is excited to share with you this recent news article about two NASA scientists that help match your observations with satellite data - Bill Smith and Kris Bedka. They, along with Louis Nguyen lead SatCORPS, at team at NASA Langley Research Center that use expertise in clouds to make better weather predictions.
Read more about their work at https://www.nasa.gov/feature/langley/how-cloud-data-is-improving-weather-forecasts
Posted in:
Curriculum:
STEM
SCIENCE AND MATH
TECHNOLOGY
Event Topics:
OTHER
GLOBE Science Topics:
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
SCIENTIST SKILLS
GENERAL SCIENCE
GLOBE PROTOCOLS
CLIMATE
Investigation Areas:
ATMOSPHERE
Primary Audience:
TRAINERS
TEACHERS
STUDENTS
PARTNERS
SCIENTISTS
ALUMNI
COUNTRY COORDINATORS
As spring begins here in the northern hemisphere, we often see seasonal changes in our precipitation patterns. As most of you know, heavy rains can result in the mass movement of land- known as "landslides". These natural hazards occur all over the world, and often result in destruction of property and even death. Scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center are in the process of building an open worldwide database for landslide research- and we need you to help us out!
Learn about the " Landslide Reporter " citizen science program in this blog . Learn more about ...
Posted in:
Curriculum:
STEM
SCIENCE AND MATH
Event Topics:
CAMPAIGNS AND PROJECTS (IOPS, ETC)
OTHER
SCIENCE SYMPOSIA AND FAIRS
Field Campaigns:
WATERSHEDS
SEASONS AND BIOMES
EL NIÑO
GPM
GLOBE Science Topics:
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE
GENERAL SCIENCE
GENERAL SCIENCE @ES
CLIMATE CHANGE
BACKYARD SCIENCE
CLIMATE
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
SCIENTIST SKILLS
GLOBE PROTOCOLS
Investigation Areas:
ATMOSPHERE
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
HYDROSPHERE
PEDOSPHERE (SOIL)
BIOSPHERE
Learning Activities:
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
ATMOSPHERE AND CLIMATE
LAND COVER/BIOLOGY
HYDROLOGY
SOIL
News Topics:
VIRTUAL SCIENCE FAIR
TRAINING
Primary Audience:
PARTNERS
SCIENTISTS
ALUMNI
COUNTRY COORDINATORS
TEACHERS
TRAINERS
STUDENTS
Teacher's Guide:
INVESTIGATION AREA DOCUMENTS
We are excited to have such a response to the NASA GLOBE Clouds: Spring Cloud Observations Data Challenge . Remember, top observers will be congratulated by a NASA scientist! Click here to learn more about the challenge.
Are you wondering about the clouds you are reporting and the type of weather you might experience in your area? Here is a guide to how cloud types are related to weather!
The information below was taken from the NOAA's SciJinks webpage - https://scijinks.gov/clouds/
Posted in:
Curriculum:
STEM
EDUCATION RESEARCH
SCIENCE AND MATH
Event Topics:
COMPETITIONS
GLOBE Science Topics:
SCIENTIST SKILLS
GLOBE PROTOCOLS
GENERAL SCIENCE
BACKYARD SCIENCE
Learning Activities:
ATMOSPHERE AND CLIMATE
News Topics:
COMPETITIONS
Primary Audience:
TRAINERS
TEACHERS
STUDENTS
PARTNERS
SCIENTISTS
ALUMNI
COUNTRY COORDINATORS
Today we start a series of posts devoted to providing information, tips, tricks and answers to frequently asked questions by Calitoo users!
So, how do you measure Aerosol Optical Thickness (AOT) with a Calitoo?
First and foremost: NEVER look directly at the sun!
And… ONLY take measurements when the sun is not obstructed by clouds.
TIP: Use your hand(s) to cover the sun; if you see any clouds on either side of your hand(s), do NOT take any measurements. Wait until the sun is not obstructed by clouds.
Now, the Calitoo sun photometer measures AOT values at 465 nm, 540 ...
Posted in:
Curriculum:
STEM
EDUCATION RESEARCH
SCIENCE AND MATH
Event Topics:
CAMPAIGNS AND PROJECTS (IOPS, ETC)
SCIENCE SYMPOSIA AND FAIRS
GLOBE Science Topics:
GENERAL SCIENCE
GLOBE PROTOCOLS
GLOBE Working Groups:
SCIENCE WORKING GROUP
Investigation Areas:
AEROSOLS
News Topics:
VIRTUAL SCIENCE FAIR
Primary Audience:
STUDENTS
TEACHERS
PARTNERS
The NASA GLOBE Clouds team is excited to highlight Mr. Gary Popiolkowski, a middle school science teacher at Chartiers-Houston Jr./Sr. High School in Houston, PA, USA. Mr. Popiolkowski has been teaching for 44 years and has been a GLOBE teacher since 1995. He has had his students doing cloud observations for the past 18 years, submitting over 15,000 observations! He has also been doing virtual connections with Patumwan Demonstration School in Thailand each year for the past four years.
We ask Mr. Popiolkowski how he does it! Here is what he shared:
Each period of the day the ...
Posted in:
Curriculum:
STEM
SCIENCE AND MATH
Event Topics:
OTHER
GLOBE Science Topics:
SCIENTIST SKILLS
GLOBE PROTOCOLS
GENERAL SCIENCE
Investigation Areas:
SURFACE TEMPERATURE
CLOUDS
Primary Audience:
TRAINERS
TEACHERS
STUDENTS
PARTNERS
ALUMNI
SCIENTISTS
COUNTRY COORDINATORS
The GLOBE Clouds team at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA would like to highlight the top observers for the month of February! Thank you to all observers for submitting your observations and using the satellite matching of data.
Also, remember that on March 15, 2018 we will start our NASA GLOBE Clouds: Spring Cloud Observations Data Challenge ! The top observers will be congratulated by a NASA scientist with a video posted on the NASA GLOBE Clouds website. Click here for more information.
Top 10 cloud observers for February 2018
...
Posted in:
Event Topics:
COMPETITIONS
GLOBE Science Topics:
SCIENTIST SKILLS
GLOBE PROTOCOLS
GENERAL SCIENCE
BACKYARD SCIENCE
Investigation Areas:
CLOUDS
News Topics:
COMPETITIONS
Primary Audience:
TRAINERS
TEACHERS
STUDENTS
PARTNERS
ALUMNI
SCIENTISTS
COUNTRY COORDINATORS
A fourth grade student from Public School 122 (Queens, NY), recently visited NASA Langley for a week. During his visit, he studied the GLOBE Aerosol Protocol. He went outside the Atmospheric Sciences building and collected aerosol data using a Calitoo sun photometer, which measures Aerosol Optical Thickness (AOT) at three wavelengths: 465nm (blue), 540nm (green) and 619nm (red).
After downloading the data measured with the Calitoo to his laptop, the student learned how to access AERONET data. The AERONET ( AE rosol RO botic NET work) project is a federation of ground-based remote ...
Posted in:
Curriculum:
STEM
EDUCATION RESEARCH
SCIENCE AND MATH
Event Topics:
CAMPAIGNS AND PROJECTS (IOPS, ETC)
SCIENCE SYMPOSIA AND FAIRS
GLOBE Science Topics:
GLOBE PROTOCOLS
GENERAL SCIENCE
GLOBE Working Groups:
SCIENCE WORKING GROUP
Investigation Areas:
ATMOSPHERE
AEROSOLS
News Topics:
VIRTUAL SCIENCE FAIR
Primary Audience:
TEACHERS
STUDENTS
PARTNERS
The NASA GLOBE Clouds team recently presented a webinar the details of how your cloud observations are matched to satellite data. The webinar, recording found below, also focuses on the importance and quality of the observations, ways that the data can be used by scientists, and current work being done by the team at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA. The webinar also highlights newly processed data from the temperature and cloud observations reported for the Great North American Solar Eclipse on August 21, 2017.
See how your ...
Posted in:
Curriculum:
STEM
EDUCATION RESEARCH
SCIENCE AND MATH
TECHNOLOGY
Event Topics:
CAMPAIGNS AND PROJECTS (IOPS, ETC)
GLOBE Science Topics:
SCIENTIST SKILLS
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE
GLOBE PROTOCOLS
GENERAL SCIENCE
BACKYARD SCIENCE
Investigation Areas:
CLOUDS
News Topics:
VIDEO
Primary Audience:
TRAINERS
TEACHERS
PARTNERS
SCIENTISTS
COUNTRY COORDINATORS
Right now I am sitting in my home office, watching the trees bend as the wind howls. My automated weather station in my front yard has an anemometer that is simply going nuts, and the wind vane is wildly careening back and forth as the winds pushes in from all directions. We have had wind gusts that exceeded 40 mph and now my weather station is reporting sustained winds at 25 mph.
The power of nature simply astounds me and fills me with wonder and awe. Being able to make visible observations of the impact of the wind- by watching how fast the clouds are moving, seeing the ...
Posted in:
Curriculum:
STEM
SCIENCE AND MATH
Event Topics:
CAMPAIGNS AND PROJECTS (IOPS, ETC)
COMPETITIONS
Field Campaigns:
EL NIÑO
GLOBE Science Topics:
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE
GENERAL SCIENCE
BACKYARD SCIENCE
Learning Activities:
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
ATMOSPHERE AND CLIMATE
News Topics:
COMPETITIONS
CALENDAR
Primary Audience:
TRAINERS
TEACHERS
STUDENTS
PARTNERS
SCIENTISTS
ALUMNI
COUNTRY COORDINATORS
This past week was a very exciting one for the Science Education Team at NASA Langley Research Center! Four members visited one of the schools participating in the GLOBE Air Quality Student Research Campaign: Our Lady of Mount Carmel School, in Newport News, VA., where twenty middle school students, led by their science teacher Ms. Angie Rizzi, presented their team research projects and posters about aerosols.
After students started taking aerosol measurements and once they had selected their research project questions, Dr. Pippin, -lead scientist for the GLOBE Air Quality Student ...
Posted in:
Curriculum:
STEM
EDUCATION RESEARCH
SCIENCE AND MATH
Event Topics:
CAMPAIGNS AND PROJECTS (IOPS, ETC)
SCIENCE SYMPOSIA AND FAIRS
GLOBE Science Topics:
GENERAL SCIENCE
GLOBE PROTOCOLS
GLOBE Working Groups:
SCIENCE WORKING GROUP
Investigation Areas:
AEROSOLS
News Topics:
VIRTUAL SCIENCE FAIR
Primary Audience:
TEACHERS
STUDENTS
PARTNERS
Mr. Jeff Bouwman
The NASA GLOBE Clouds team is excited to highlight Mr. Jeff Bouwman, a 6th and 7th grade teacher at Shumate Middle School ( Gibraltar School District ) in Gibraltar, MI. Mr. Bouwman was one of the top 10 GLOBE Cloud observers for 2017 and we are very excited for the research his students are doing with the data.
We invite you to read his most recent post - "It's Cool to Have Your Head in the Clouds" - and read the research his students are doing with 2-years of cloud observations!
If you would ...
Posted in:
Curriculum:
STEM
EDUCATION RESEARCH
SCIENCE AND MATH
TECHNOLOGY
Event Topics:
SCIENCE SYMPOSIA AND FAIRS
GLOBE Science Topics:
SCIENTIST SKILLS
GLOBE PROTOCOLS
GENERAL SCIENCE
BACKYARD SCIENCE
Investigation Areas:
ATMOSPHERE
CLOUDS
Learning Activities:
ATMOSPHERE AND CLIMATE
News Topics:
VIRTUAL SCIENCE FAIR
COMPETITIONS
Primary Audience:
TRAINERS
TEACHERS
STUDENTS
SCIENTISTS
Teacher's Guide:
GRADE LEVELS
INVESTIGATION AREA DOCUMENTS
The 2017-18 GLOBE U.S. Air Quality Student Research Campaign is well underway in the United States! There are 34 school participating with more joining as the weeks go by:
Broadalbin Perth High School (Alicia Dobyns)
Cassadaga Middle School (Sandi Askin)
Crestwood High School (Diana Johns) *
Elizabeth City Middle School (Wanda Hathaway)
Fredonia Middle School (Amy Lauer)
Hamburg High School (Kaci Nowadly)
Kipp Intrepid Prep School (Robert Bujosa)
Life Academy (Sarah Pipping) *
Main Street Intermediate School (Marcy Burns)
Met Sacramento High School ...
Posted in:
Curriculum:
STEM
EDUCATION RESEARCH
SCIENCE AND MATH
Event Topics:
CAMPAIGNS AND PROJECTS (IOPS, ETC)
SCIENCE SYMPOSIA AND FAIRS
GLOBE Science Topics:
GENERAL SCIENCE
GLOBE PROTOCOLS
GLOBE Working Groups:
SCIENCE WORKING GROUP
Investigation Areas:
AEROSOLS
News Topics:
VIRTUAL SCIENCE FAIR
Primary Audience:
TEACHERS
STUDENTS
PARTNERS
When we observe scientists, sometimes we think that they were born with a lab coat, glasses and knowing everything about the world around them, or at least it was my idea when I was child, but all scientists have been students like you and me when they were children, they attended school, enjoyed some courses and maybe disliked others. How did they decide to become scientists? What was their motivation to pursue a career in science? and what is the impact of GLOBE in their personal and professional lives? Let´s read some personal stories from GLOBE scientists.
...
Posted in:
GLOBE Science Topics:
GENERAL SCIENCE
GENERAL SCIENCE @ES
MEETINGS/CONFERENCES
SCIENTIST SKILLS
GLOBE Working Groups:
SCIENCE WORKING GROUP
Primary Audience:
SCIENTISTS
COUNTRY COORDINATORS
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