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GISN & STEM Professionals' Blog Archive

This blog is no longer active. The GISN and STEM Professional's Blog is an archive of online collaborative effort where scientists associated with GLOBE shared their thoughts, comments, and philosophies about a variety of science topics.
 


 

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This time was my first visit to Trinidad and Tobago and to the LAC region. The visit was first of its kinds, knowing vividly that Africans and the People of Trinidad and Tobago have so many things in common in terms of Geography and Historical antecedent.  The motivation for my visit to Trinidad and Tobago started during the 17 th GLOBE Annual meeting at Maryland. Initially, it was just a brief discussion with Henry Saunders (Country Coordinator, GLOBE Trinidad and Tobago). However, after a year, I met Mr. Michael at GLOBE Expedition in New Delhi, India where we had in-depth ...


Posted in: GLOBE Science Topics: MEETINGS/CONFERENCES   GLOBE Working Groups: SCIENCE WORKING GROUP   Investigation Areas: PEDOSPHERE (SOIL)   Primary Audience: ALUMNI COUNTRY COORDINATORS SCIENTISTS STUDENTS TEACHERS


Concerns regarding the impact of global warming on vector-borne diseases have intensified interest in the relationship between atmospheric factors and dengue fever incidence. Global climate change poses the threat of serious social upheaval, population displacement, economic hardships, and environmental degradation. Changes in temperature, rainfall and relative humidity have potential to enhance vector development, reproductive and biting rates, shorten pathogen incubation period and encourage adult longevity. In addition, changes in wind direction, velocity and frequency will have an ...


Posted in: GLOBE Science Topics: CLIMATE CHANGE GLOBE PROTOCOLS   Investigation Areas: HYDROSPHERE   Learning Activities: HYDROLOGY   Primary Audience: STUDENTS TEACHERS


Hi All, The Urban Heat Island/Surface Temperature Research Campaign was very successful this year. There were a total of 1306 surface temperature observations from 59 schools during the Urban Heat Island/Surface Temperature Research Campaign. Schools that have participated so far (I put the country the schools are in and the state for the schools in the United States): 21CCLC Newport Community School - 12 Al Fisaliah Gifted School at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – 10 Al-Anjal Intermediate Schoo at Rejal Alma’a, Saudi Arabia - 2 Al-Fahd Secondary School at Rejal Alma'a, Saudi ...


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It was great to see the GLOBE presence at the AMS Annual Meeting in Seattle last week. Monday, the Symposium on Education is focused on K12 initiatives. The morning sessions all focused on GLOBE related activities and projects that included the NASA Mission Earth Project, GOES-R/16, the new Elementary GLOBE Climate book, and the International Virtual Science Fair. The new GLOBE Cloud app was presented in the afternoon. There were several projects presented in the Education Poster session as well. It would be great to see even more presentations of all the innovative and ...


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Hi All, We are well into the Urban Heat Island/Surface Temperature Student Research Campaign. Data are coming into the GLOBE website from schools from around the world. To date there have been 43 schools that have uploaded data to the GLOBE website. As I am writing this, there are a total of 596 surface temperature observations taken and entered on the website from December 1 to December 14, 2016. That’s a whole lot of data. The most observations have come in from Rick Sharpe’s students at Huntington High School in West Virginia with a total of 202. Kim Clark’s students from John ...


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Hi All, It is exciting that we started a new Urban Heat Island/Surface Temperature Student Research Campaign that was formally knows as the Surface Temperature Field Campaign. I wanted to get an email out before the campaign started, but I came down with a bad cold. 27 schools have taken observations and entered them on the GLOBE website. I know that many more of you have taken observations or are planning to take observations. If you can, please enter your observations on the GLOBE website sooner than later. I will take a look at the observations. This research campaign is a chance ...


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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


Yesterday, I visited Bell Multicultural High School and Lincoln Middle School, which share a campus near my home. It was inspiring, and I saw good science teaching with students doing research experiments dealing with bioremediation of soils. In discussions, I found myself talking about GLOBE and the many aspects of what the Program offers. Students were experimenting with plant uptake of soil contaminants and were planning to take water samples from the Anacostia River bordering the area where they had collected soil samples. Their insight into the soil could be greatly expanded ...


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A heat lamp and reflector socket with a spring clamp may be purchased on-line for as little as $26. The amount of time required to dry samples depends on many things including the wetness of the initial sample, the soil characteristics, the relative humidity, and the temperature to which the sample is heated. GLOBE protocols specify that samples are not to be heated above 105 o C. In using a heat lamp, the temperature to which the sample is heated depends on the wattage of the bulb and the distance between the heat lamp and the sample bag. I have tried drying a sample using this ...


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Phenology: Community Storytelling in Action (This is a continuation of my blog about Rising Voices. Click  here  to see the first blog entry in this series.) "How healthy is our reef?" The following day, after meeting Aunty Pua Case and hearing about the sacredness of Mauna Kea and touring the Mauna Loa Observatory, we went to the Ka’upulehu Interpretive Center to learn about place-based learning in Hawai’i. There, we met Aunty Lei - another powerful educator and leader who talked about the educational center that they created in their community and some of the ...


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Blog Two (This is a continuation of my blog about Rising Voices. Click here to see the first blog entry in this series.) Part One: Mauna Kea “Let’s do something that is right for our mountain, and our people, and our mountain.” Location: Pu’uhuluhul, base of the Mauna Kea Mountain, en route to Mauna Loa Observatory We arrived at the base between two mountains: Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. We met Aunty Pua Case, who shared the importance of Mauna Kea to the people of Hawai’i and led us through a cultural protocol to recognize the sacredness of the space. Similar to ...


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Blog One: Rising Voices: Collaborative Science with Indigenous Knowledge for Climate Solutions Credit: Craig Elevitch     Nana ka maka, look with your eyes. Ho'olohe ka pepeiao, hear with your ears (not your Heart). Paa ka waha, shut your mouth. Hana i ka lima, work with your hands.         According to the United States National Climate Assessment 2014 , “c limate change threatens Native Peoples’ access to traditional foods and adequate water. Alaskan Native communities are increasingly ...


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GLOBE friends, The Annual Meeting in Colorado is only a few days away! We -the members of the Evaluation Working Group- are really excited about having the opportunity to meet in person again and about having the chance to interact with all of you. Join us for our presentations to see what we have worked on for the past year. Our efforts will be much more targeted and much more effective if you share with us your experience of using GLOBE with your students. We would like to know your success stories, your challenges, your concerns and your suggestions.  At ...


Posted in: GLOBE Working Groups: EVALUATION WORKING GROUP


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


Click on the link forwarded by Dr.Tim Schmit (GOES-R PI) to view some amazing imagery! http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/ goes/blog/archives/category/goes-14


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Looking for collaborators on the GOES-R Weather Watchers Project. Let's bring the satellite and STEM education community together!


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This is the second half to a blog posted on 25 March 2016. To see part one, click here . We are pleased that our guest blogger, Jacob Spivey, is back to share more information about oceans and climate. Jacob also blogs at Weatherbolt .  If part of the ocean has a lower salinity, then it’s going to be less dense and there won’t be as much sinking water there. This can trigger the slowdown of another circulation, the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC (thank goodness scientists abbreviate some of the names that they come up with!). Like the GTC, this is another ...


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We are pleased to welcome guest blogger Jacob Spivey. Jacob is a senior undergraduate in Meteorology with a minor in Climatology at Penn State University. Fascinated by weather extremes as he was growing up, today he looks at possible relationships between extreme weather and climate change. Within the past few years, he has also begun looking at how these subjects are communicated to the general public, a process which he has started doing himself in his online blog,  Weatherbolt . Ask someone what they think of when they hear about climate change, and you might get a ...


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See  https://www.facebook.com/groups/602168936587444/  


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The next GLOBE training will occur at the University of North Dakota on Monday 8 August and Tuesday 9 August 2016, with online components beginning Friday 5 August. Trainers will be Dr. Laura Munski of the Dakota Science Center and Dr. Matt Gilmore of Atmospheric Sciences. New this year, teachers will watch several introductory online videos and complete several hours of e-training with quiz questions - totaling 3 hours of online instruction. Invited again this year are pre-service teachers (e.g., students at UND or Mayville State ...


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