STEM Network Blog Intro

GISN & STEM Professional's Blog

The GLOBE International STEM Network (GISN) and STEM Professional's Blog is an online collaborative effort where scientists associated with GLOBE post their thoughts, comments, and philosophies about a variety of science topics.

GLOBE strongly encourages positive and productive discussions to further advance the scientific understanding of all involved with The GLOBE Program.
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In GLOBE, there are two major perspectives on the global environment โ€“ the spheres and the Earth system. The Teacherโ€™s Guide and the new sphere pages build on the approach that examines Earth as the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and pedosphere. The study of Earth System Science focuses on the cycles that connect the spheres โ€“ the Energy, Water, and Biogeochemical. The Honor Roll provides recognition of those who report in depth in one area or another. There are three honor rolls recognizing Atmosphere measurement reporting; one for Hydrosphere;, and two each for Biosphere and ...


Posted in: Curriculum: SCIENCE AND MATH   Field Campaigns: EL NIร‘O SMAP SURFACE TEMPERATURE GPM CARBON CYCLE   GLOBE Science Topics: EARTH AS A SYSTEM EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE


I just updated HoloGLOBE to v1.0.2. For those of you new to this app, HoloGLOBE brings NASA and NOAA visualizations of the Earth to the palm of your hand through augmented reality (AR). You can read more about the app here: http://www.palmyracove.org/InstituteforEarthObservations/HoloGLOBE.aspx In this latest release, I have added play/pause functionality to the MyNASAData module. The MyNASAData is essentially an augmented reality version of GLOBE's Earth System Poster. In addition the new ICESat-2 module has been added. The ICESat-2 module was built by Emme Wiederhold, a ...


Posted in: Curriculum: STEM ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION EDUCATION RESEARCH LANGUAGE CULTURE AND ARTS SCIENCE AND MATH TECHNOLOGY   Event Topics: CAMPAIGNS AND PROJECTS (IOPS, ETC) GLOBE LEARNING EXPEDITIONS OTHER SCIENCE SYMPOSIA AND FAIRS MEETINGS WORKSHOPS COMPETITIONS   Field Campaigns: SCRC - PHASE 2 SCRC FLEXE CARBON CYCLE WATERSHEDS SEASONS AND BIOMES SCUBANAUTS EL NIร‘O GGIC SCRC - PHASE 1 SMAP SURFACE TEMPERATURE GPM   GLOBE Science Topics: EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE GENERAL SCIENCE GENERAL SCIENCE @ES CLIMATE CHANGE DATA INCLUDED BACKYARD SCIENCE MEETINGS/CONFERENCES CLIMATE SCIENTIST SKILLS EARTH AS A SYSTEM GLOBE PROTOCOLS   GLOBE Working Groups: EVALUATION WORKING GROUP SCIENCE WORKING GROUP EDUCATION WORKING GROUP TECHNOLOGY WORKING GROUP   Investigation Areas: BIOSPHERE ATMOSPHERE EARTH AS A SYSTEM HYDROSPHERE PEDOSPHERE (SOIL)   Learning Activities: EARTH AS A SYSTEM ATMOSPHERE AND CLIMATE LAND COVER/BIOLOGY HYDROLOGY SOIL   News Topics: VIRTUAL SCIENCE FAIR IOPS REGIONS CALENDAR SCRC RESEARCH TRAINING COMPETITIONS MEETINGS VIDEO WEB MAINTENANCE / ENHANCEMENTS   Primary Audience: PARTNERS SCIENTISTS ALUMNI COUNTRY COORDINATORS TRAINERS TEACHERS STUDENTS   Teacher's Guide: GRADE LEVELS DOCUMENT TYPES TIME REQUIREMENTS LANGUAGES STANDARDS REQUIREMENTS INVESTIGATION AREA DOCUMENTS


HoloGLOBE is now available on the Apple App Store:  https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hologlobe/id1411588929?ls=1&mt=8 Please send me comments and suggestions. And of course SPREAD THE WORD!!! I will use this Blog to announce issues, changes,  and upcoming features to the app.                      


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The UND GLOBE 2018 Summer Training Workshop was scheduled for 30-31 July 2018.  Unfortunately the enrollment was not high enough so it was cancelled.   Attached is the postcard we used to advertise our GLOBE Workshop at our local Science Teacher's Association Conference. Next year, we plan to obtain a table at the conference and offer Elementary GLOBE books/binders for sale (at cost) in order to better advertise GLOBE and hopefully have more teachers want to attend our workshop.


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Wow....what an experience the 2018 GLOBE Learning Expedition (GLE) in Killarney was!  GLOBE meetings are always intense and GLEs are even more so.  Such was the case at my first GLE in India in 2014 and 2018 in Ireland proved no exception.  However, this particular GLE was very special to me on many levels.  This was the second GLE that I attended and marked over 5 years in my time as director of the GLOBE Office at UCAR.  However, and more important, the location was my home town, and the Killarney National Park that was the backdrop for the GLE and that we used ...


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The GLOBE Observer app (available for iPhones and Android devices) is a new, step-by-step way to submit cloud observations to NASA. Use your GLOBE sign-in information to sync your observations with your GLOBE data entry.  Here are some simple tips and tricks on how to better identify clouds while using the app. Your latitude, longitude, and time of day with be filled in automatically by the app!   1. What does your sky look like? Is your sky completely clear with no contrails? Are there clouds or is the sky obscured that it makes it difficult to make any ...


Posted in: GLOBE Science Topics: BACKYARD SCIENCE   Investigation Areas: CLOUDS   Learning Activities: OBSERVING, DESCRIBING, AND IDENTIFYING CLOUDS OBSERVING VISIBILITY AND SKY COLOR ESTIMATING CLOUD COVER   Teacher's Guide: UPPER PRIMARY: 3-5 SECONDARY: 9-12 MIDDLE: 6-8 LOWER PRIMARY: K-2


Hi, every one, you remember that fall where Tony got rescued long ago in his youth? Well we were there and the place is so beautiful and inviting. No wonder the lad had to take a risk and climb it without ropes. It was nice place and the student field task there was exciting. But please take note if you are going to be at the Lower Toc, getting wet is very normal, and not shorts for your sake. Francis


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This week we are very excited to highlight the work of Ms. Jillian Anderson and her high school students at the Lexington School for the Deaf, in Queens, NY. Ever since they joined the U.S. GLOBE Air Quality Student Research Campaign, they have been going outside to make observations of the atmosphere every day! The students have been submitting both Clouds and Aerosol Optical Thickness observations and we want to thank them for their valuable contribution to science.   We encourage them to keep up their great work and we invite other schools to continue ...


Posted in: Curriculum: STEM   GLOBE Science Topics: SCIENTIST SKILLS GLOBE PROTOCOLS   GLOBE Working Groups: SCIENCE WORKING GROUP   Investigation Areas: AEROSOLS   Primary Audience: TEACHERS STUDENTS PARTNERS SCIENTISTS


We would like to share with you some tips on how to keep your Calitoo instrument up and running: Keep your instrument indoors until the time of measurement. The instrument detector is sensitive to temperature and performs best near room temperature (~70F or ~21C). Donโ€™t let your instrument overheat. Also donโ€™t make measurements in extreme cold unless instrument is insulated from cold. Donโ€™t forget to TURN OFF your instrument after youโ€™re done measuring! To turn off, press the button for a few seconds until the screen reads: โ€œ Stop in progress โ€. When batteries start going ...


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This has been a great year for the Urban Heat Island/Surface Temperature Student Research Campaign. More schools and more students have participated than ever before. I posted a 7 minute "Thank You" video here on https://youtu.be/QPfmAbMrwE4 Youtube. Urban Heat Island is a growing issue worldwide. More than 50% of the population of the world lives in urban areas. Much of this growth has been in developing. I went to research presentations about UHI at the American Association of Geography (AAG) meeting in New Orleans this week. There were many talks about UHI and using satellite imagery ...


Posted in: Field Campaigns: SURFACE TEMPERATURE


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


    Today we will get a closer at look at the values displayed on our Calitoo screen. When you first turn on your Calitoo, you will get a screen like the following: note the serial number of your instrument will be displayed.                After the initial screen, your instrument will display basic information as shown on the following picture (Source: http://www.calitoo.fr/uploads/documents/en/usermanual_2016_en.pdf ) TIP: The temperature displayed by your Calitoo is actually the temperature ...


Posted in: Event Topics: CAMPAIGNS AND PROJECTS (IOPS, ETC) SCIENCE SYMPOSIA AND FAIRS   GLOBE Science Topics: EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE GLOBE PROTOCOLS   GLOBE Working Groups: SCIENCE WORKING GROUP   Investigation Areas: AEROSOLS   News Topics: VIRTUAL SCIENCE FAIR   Primary Audience: TRAINERS TEACHERS STUDENTS PARTNERS


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


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


Itโ€™s almost spring, the time of year when the looming change in seasons could lead to some pretty fascinating cloud activity in the sky. NASA and  the GLOBE Program  are asking for your help by taking part in a citizen science cloud observation challenge. From March 15 through April 15, citizen scientists of all ages can make up to 10 cloud observations per day using the  GLOBE Observer app  or one of the other  data entry options  (for trained GLOBE members). Challenge participants with the most observations will be congratulated by a NASA scientist in a ...


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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! Andโ€ฆ 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