News - NASA Langley Research Center

The 2012 Virginia Association of Science Teacher's (VAST) conference hosted three sessions focused on GLOBE. NASA Langley Research Center presented these sessions in the hopes of inspiring teachers to join the GLOBE program. Jessica Taylor, a GLOBE Trainer since 2004, showcased GLOBE resources focused on Elementary GLOBE, the Student Climate Research Campaign, and Temperature Investigation. In total, approximately 80 teachers attended at least one GLOBE session during the annual VAST conference. To access materials from the sessions, visit: http://science-edu.larc.nasa.gov/GLOBE/training-2.php .  >>

Each October, NASA joins forces with the American Geological Institute and their partners for Earth Science Week (ESW). It's a chance to give people of all ages the opportunity to explore the natural world and learn about the geosciences. NASA Langley researchers and staff celebrated this year's ESW, from October 14 to 20, in the local community through a storybook event. They visited about 50 Kindergarten through fifth grade classrooms in Hampton, Newport News, Poquoson and York County this week to read stories about the Earth and talk to the children about how NASA studies our home planet. Volunteers gave a copy of the book to each teacher along with a folder of NASA Langley Science Directorate education resources and ESW packets. Read more about this event: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/langley/news/researchernews/ScienceStorybook.html View more photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/larc-science/sets/72157632022342653  >>

Alec Weisman, a student at Baldwin Wallace University, recently completed an internship at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA. During his summer internship, Alec worked with Dr. Margaret Pippin and Dr. Ali Omar to study aerosol optical depth (AOD). Alec used GLOBE's Aerosol Sunphotometer and compared observations using this hand-held device with AERONET (NASA's Aerosol Robotic Network) AOD and Department of Environmental Quality PM2.5 measurements. Alec found strong correlation between GLOBE sunphotometer 505 nm and AERONET level 1.5 AOD at 500nm. By graphing the data, Alec found the corresponding slope to be 0.9446, indicating that the correlation is nearly 1:1. He also concluded that for AOD values less than 0.4 the correlation is the strongest. During this summer experience Alec not only conducted research using GLOBE protocols, but he became GLOBE certified as a pre-service teacher. "I've been fortunate," Alec says, "to fall under the guidance of some great people throughout my life and because of their help I've been able to do some great things." Alec was selected for the internship after applying through NASA's One Stop Shopping Initiative: Student Online Application a for Recruiting Interns, Fellows, and Scholars (OSSI:SOLAR) program, found online at: https://intern.nasa.gov/solar/web/public/main/ .  >>

NASA Langley Research Center trained 20 teachers on GLOBE's Carbon Cycle project on August 7, 2012. The training was part of a two-week workshop for Virginia teachers in conjunction with the MODSIM World Conference. Teachers learned about earth systems and used modeling software to project climate impacts due to changes in carbon.  >>

Teachers engage in atmospheric investigations during week-long training at NASA Langley Research Center. During a recent GLOBE workshop at NASA Langley Research Center, teachers worked side-by-side with NASA scientists and educators to develop meaningful atmosphere investigations by using NASA's unique resources, including observations from advanced satellite systems and real-time measurements using GLOBE instrumentation and protocols. Throughout the week teachers learned about various atmosphere indicators including: Clouds & Contrails, Temperature, Surface Temperature, Relative Humidity, Precipitation, Barometric Pressure, Aerosols, and Surface Ozone. Teachers met with guest speakers from the Science Directorate and had the opportunity to ask scientists questions about NASA latest research, missions, and what it's like to be a scientist.  >>