Stars and STEM Stories
Students from Malaysia Learn about GLOBE in Saudi Arabia
Students from Malaysia Children's Hope charity visited three cities in Saudi Arabia in December, 2012. Their journey included visits to schools as well as historic heritage sites.
In Al-Madinah Al-Monawarah, the General Director of Education Mr. Nasser Al-Abdulkareem and his Assistant for Education Dr. Norah Al-Baga'awi both believed that participating in GLOBE activities would be a good experience for the visiting students, so they advised that Malaysian students should visit the 25th Secondary Girls School and conduct GLOBE protocols with the Saudi students.
The program was supervised by Mrs. Raqia Abu Shousheh (Director of Students Activity in Al-Madinah Al-Monawarah) and Mrs. Saraalanoud Al Etani (GLOBE Local Coordinator in Al-Madinah Al-Monawarah) with cooperation of Mrs. Nehaya Al-Johany (the 25th Secondary Girls School principal).
Mrs. Ebtisam Nahhas (GLOBE Teacher at the 25th Secondary Girls School) began with an introduction to GLOBE. Then the students moved to the school yard where they implemented many GLOBE protocols.
Students went to their soil characterization site and studied soil characterization using the pit method, which entails identifying the horizons of the soil profile, and observing the structure, color, consistency, and texture of the soil. Students also recorded the presence of rocks, roots, and carbonates at each horizon. They also measured soil moisture, pH and temperature.
Next, they conducted hydrology protocols such as transparency, temperature, electrical conductivity, pH, dissolved oxygen and nitrate using different water samples.
Finally, students went to their atmosphere study site, where they studied cloud cover and types and took the measurements of relative humidity, max, min and current air temperature.
At the end of the visit, Malaysian students expressed their pleasure with this experience and gave thanks to the GLOBE team.