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By Claudia Caro  and Erika Podest  Curiosity is a natural characteristic of all people, especially the young. It is the first step for a child to build knowledge, and I am sure we can all remember as children asking what?, why?, where?, and numerous other questions as we tried to learn new things. Unfortunately, as children grow up, this natural curiosity slowly fades. Why is this? We donโ€™t exactly know, but it might be that as children grow older they think they know all the answers or because most school systems are structured to teach by providing answers rather than ...


Posted in: Curriculum: STEM EDUCATION RESEARCH SCIENCE AND MATH TECHNOLOGY   Event Topics: SCIENCE SYMPOSIA AND FAIRS   GLOBE Science Topics: SCIENTIST SKILLS MEETINGS/CONFERENCES   GLOBE Working Groups: SCIENCE WORKING GROUP EDUCATION WORKING GROUP   News Topics: VIRTUAL SCIENCE FAIR   Primary Audience: TEACHERS STUDENTS   Teacher's Guide: SECONDARY: 9-12 MIDDLE: 6-8


Authors: Claudia Caro and Olawale Oluwafemi (Femi) Our participation in the International Virtual Science Symposium (IVSS) as judges has allowed us  to learn more about  the scientific experiences of students involved in the GLOBE Program. As members of the GLOBE Science Working Group with backgrounds in Geography and Biology, we would like to share our findings about the importance of the IVSS in the GLOBE community and give you some advice to empower your participation in this extraordinary yearly event. Why an International Virtual Science Symposium? Knowledge ...


Posted in: Curriculum: STEM SCIENCE AND MATH TECHNOLOGY   Event Topics: SCIENCE SYMPOSIA AND FAIRS   GLOBE Working Groups: SCIENCE WORKING GROUP EDUCATION WORKING GROUP   Primary Audience: TEACHERS STUDENTS COUNTRY COORDINATORS   Teacher's Guide: SECONDARY: 9-12 MIDDLE: 6-8 GRADE LEVELS


When you start writing your GLOBE report for IVSS, it might be difficult because you might not sure where to start. We tend to start writing the Methods section first because it is something you did it yourselves and it should be relatively easy and straight forward to write. Second, you should write the Results section, do graphs, tables and texts (think of a best way to present your cool data to the whole world). Third, you should start writing the Introduction stating your hypotheses and predictions. The next step would be the Discussion section. It is funny to say but as scientists, ...


Posted in: Curriculum: STEM EDUCATION RESEARCH SCIENCE AND MATH TECHNOLOGY   Event Topics: MEETINGS SCIENCE SYMPOSIA AND FAIRS   GLOBE Science Topics: SCIENTIST SKILLS MEETINGS/CONFERENCES   GLOBE Working Groups: SCIENCE WORKING GROUP EDUCATION WORKING GROUP   News Topics: VIRTUAL SCIENCE FAIR   Primary Audience: TEACHERS STUDENTS   Teacher's Guide: GRADE LEVELS SECONDARY: 9-12 MIDDLE: 6-8


Currently, Science education has transitioned away from textbooks to more hands on learning. This is an amazing opportunity for teachers to move away from the normal lecturing and explaining in class to reshaping the process of learning. I think that the GLOBE Program is a fantastic organization and empowered program that promises to give an essential change in education.  One example is teaching and learning from directs activities in the field. An excellent activity is to share data from school to school through collaboration.  Students can share what  they are ...


Posted in: Curriculum: STEM   Event Topics: OTHER SCIENCE SYMPOSIA AND FAIRS   GLOBE Science Topics: EARTH AS A SYSTEM EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE GLOBE PROTOCOLS   GLOBE Working Groups: EDUCATION WORKING GROUP   Investigation Areas: ATMOSPHERE EARTH AS A SYSTEM HYDROSPHERE PEDOSPHERE (SOIL) BIOSPHERE   News Topics: VIRTUAL SCIENCE FAIR   Primary Audience: TRAINERS TEACHERS STUDENTS PARTNERS ALUMNI COUNTRY COORDINATORS


Many of us are so used to having clean freshwater that is easily accessible that we don't often stop to marvel at the fact that we are incredibly fortunate. The majority of our freshwater comes from our water cycle, and precipitation is unevenly distributed across the globe. You can learn more about the importance of clean freshwater resources in this "one-pager" entitled " Precious Freshness ".   During our ENSO Phase III Webinar #3, we will be focusing on water quality in Europe and Eurasia. We will host this webinar at 18:30 UCT, and hope we will have many of you from ...


Posted in: Curriculum: SCIENCE AND MATH LANGUAGE CULTURE AND ARTS STEM   Event Topics: CAMPAIGNS AND PROJECTS (IOPS, ETC) SCIENCE SYMPOSIA AND FAIRS   Field Campaigns: WATERSHEDS EL NIร‘O   GLOBE Science Topics: GENERAL SCIENCE EARTH AS A SYSTEM SCIENTIST SKILLS GLOBE PROTOCOLS   GLOBE Working Groups: EDUCATION WORKING GROUP SCIENCE WORKING GROUP   Investigation Areas: HYDROSPHERE   Learning Activities: ATMOSPHERE AND CLIMATE HYDROLOGY   News Topics: VIRTUAL SCIENCE FAIR SCRC RESEARCH   Primary Audience: PARTNERS SCIENTISTS ALUMNI COUNTRY COORDINATORS TRAINERS TEACHERS STUDENTS


It is pretty neat when you can get two for the price of one- as most teachers can attest to with regard to trying to get everything into their curriculum. Did you know that this year, the FIRST LEGO League's challenge is focused on water. And what could be better, as that water is also the theme of this year's ENSO Student Research Campaign !  The LEGO Challenge Project states: "People use water every day, but they donโ€™t think much about how and why they use water. Whether itโ€™s directly (drinking or washing) or indirectly (manufacturing the products they use or producing food ...


Posted in: Curriculum: STEM SCIENCE AND MATH   Event Topics: CAMPAIGNS AND PROJECTS (IOPS, ETC) SCIENCE SYMPOSIA AND FAIRS COMPETITIONS   Field Campaigns: EL NIร‘O WATERSHEDS GPM   GLOBE Science Topics: EARTH AS A SYSTEM EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE GLOBE PROTOCOLS CLIMATE CHANGE CLIMATE   Investigation Areas: ATMOSPHERE   Learning Activities: EARTH AS A SYSTEM ATMOSPHERE AND CLIMATE   News Topics: COMPETITIONS   Primary Audience: TEACHERS STUDENTS


Observations of daily precipitation have been a part of GLOBE from the beginning. At the start, GLOBEโ€™s participation model was that schools would take measurement following all of the original 17 protocols. Atmosphere temperature, precipitation, cloud, and soil moisture measurements were to be collected daily at a site easily accessible to the school. A permanent installation of an instrument shelter containing a max/min thermometer mounted to a post along with a rain gauge was the expected norm with other measurements taken nearby. Daily temperature and precipitation measurements were ...


Posted in: Field Campaigns: EL NIร‘O GPM   GLOBE Science Topics: GLOBE PROTOCOLS   GLOBE Working Groups: SCIENCE WORKING GROUP EDUCATION WORKING GROUP   Investigation Areas: ATMOSPHERE   Primary Audience: TRAINERS TEACHERS STUDENTS PARTNERS COUNTRY COORDINATORS   Teacher's Guide: DOCUMENT TYPES


From the start, the measurement of daily maximum and minimum air temperature within one hour of local solar noon has been a key GLOBE protocol. The low cost approach was to use a U-tube thermometer housed in a wooden instrument shelter facing away from the equator. The U-shaped tube contained mercury with pins on either side of the mercury. As the air temperature warmed the pin on one side would move while the other pin stayed in place; when the air cooled, the pin on the other side would be pushed up. The pins were held in place by magnetized strips behind the thermometer tube so that ...


Posted in: Curriculum: STEM TECHNOLOGY   GLOBE Science Topics: EARTH AS A SYSTEM EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE GLOBE PROTOCOLS CLIMATE CHANGE CLIMATE   GLOBE Working Groups: SCIENCE WORKING GROUP   Investigation Areas: ATMOSPHERE   Primary Audience: TEACHERS TRAINERS STUDENTS PARTNERS SCIENTISTS ALUMNI COUNTRY COORDINATORS


One of the things I do as a GLOBE partner is facilitate workshops for educators. When I facilitate a workshop for credit, I always require a short reflection. I use reflection because when teachers, like all of us, stop and think about what they learned the learning is deeper and more relevant. And, candidly, they are more likely to implement GLOBE into their classrooms. To give participants direction in their reflecting, I use the 4 R model of reflection: review, relate, remark, revise. - Review. Participants review and summarize one salient aspect of the workshop . ...


Posted in: Curriculum: ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION LANGUAGE CULTURE AND ARTS SCIENCE AND MATH   Event Topics: WORKSHOPS   GLOBE Science Topics: GLOBE PROTOCOLS   Investigation Areas: CLOUDS   Learning Activities: CLOUD WATCH OBSERVING, DESCRIBING, AND IDENTIFYING CLOUDS ESTIMATING CLOUD COVER   Primary Audience: TRAINERS TEACHERS PARTNERS COUNTRY COORDINATORS   Teacher's Guide: UPPER PRIMARY: 3-5


 I was selected as a National Geographic  2017 Grosvenor Teacher Fellow  which is a professional development opportunity that provides educators a rich, immersive experience exploring the world to bring back to their teaching and communities. I and two other educators traveled with Lindblad Expeditions around Svalbard, Greenland and Iceland on the ship the National Geographic Explorer, making stops for excursions along the way. I decided to do field work on my Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship because 1) that is what one does on an expedition according ...


Posted in: Curriculum: SCIENCE AND MATH   GLOBE Science Topics: EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE GLOBE PROTOCOLS   Learning Activities: ATMOSPHERE AND CLIMATE   Primary Audience: TRAINERS TEACHERS STUDENTS PARTNERS SCIENTISTS ALUMNI COUNTRY COORDINATORS


https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc3kwd0hHXG--39z2ADxi7-blg11wAx1RUG42GVHgsG12BP6g/viewform?c=0&w=1 Did you know that mosquito-borne diseases are impacted by both the El Nino and the La Nina weather patterns? Tonight during the ENSO Student Research Campaign Webinar #10 (at 8 pm EST) Dr. Assaf Anyamba will share the results of his research on the impact of these different patterns on the onset of Rift Valley fever in parts of Africa. As we know, these changing weather patterns alter the normal climatic conditions for regions around the world. In some places, this results in ...


Posted in: Curriculum: STEM EDUCATION RESEARCH SCIENCE AND MATH TECHNOLOGY   Event Topics: CAMPAIGNS AND PROJECTS (IOPS, ETC)   Field Campaigns: EL NIร‘O   GLOBE Science Topics: EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE SCIENTIST SKILLS CLIMATE CHANGE CLIMATE   Investigation Areas: ATMOSPHERE EARTH AS A SYSTEM HYDROSPHERE PEDOSPHERE (SOIL) BIOSPHERE   Learning Activities: EARTH AS A SYSTEM   Primary Audience: TRAINERS TEACHERS SCIENTISTS


As Earth science has a single uncontrolled object of study, the first rule is to take todayโ€™s data today. While ice and sediment cores and fossils can reveal past conditions, the observations that can be made right now cannot be replaced by ones taken later. This goes well with the Native American adage, โ€œYou canโ€™t step in the same river twice.โ€ The environment is constantly changing and doing so on a wide range of time and space scales. In a recent video post, Neil deGrasse Tyson said, โ€œOne of the great things about science is that it is an entire exercise finding what is true. You ...


Posted in: Curriculum: SCIENCE AND MATH   Event Topics: CAMPAIGNS AND PROJECTS (IOPS, ETC) GLOBE LEARNING EXPEDITIONS SCIENCE SYMPOSIA AND FAIRS   Field Campaigns: EL NIร‘O SMAP   GLOBE Science Topics: EARTH AS A SYSTEM EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE GENERAL SCIENCE CLIMATE CHANGE CLIMATE   Investigation Areas: EARTH AS A SYSTEM   Primary Audience: TEACHERS STUDENTS ALUMNI


GLOBE is a useful resource for educators in both the formal and informal sector. Below is a guest blog post from GLOBE trained educator Jane Amiotte who is the 4H Youth Program Advisor in Pennington County here in South Dakota. One of the things that I think Jane does well is to use GLOBE with other resources and in various settings. GLOBE mixes and matches well! How do you use GLOBE in your setting? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Earth Systems I presented the Elementary GLOBE Earth Science Systems program โ€œWe Are All Connectedโ€ to the classrooms ...


Posted in: Curriculum: STEM   Investigation Areas: SOIL CHARACTERIZATION EARTH AS A SYSTEM FRESHWATER MACROINVERTEBRATES BIOMETRY (INCLUDING TREE HEIGHT) AEROSOLS   Primary Audience: TRAINERS TEACHERS   Teacher's Guide: UPPER PRIMARY: 3-5 LOWER PRIMARY: K-2


Mr. Jeff Bouwman and his Shumate Middle School students are NASA GLOBE ENSO Student Research Campaign superstars.  Check out what they have been doing in the video below!   Shumate Middle School was the first location for a new WeatherSTEM program, including a weather station, cloud camera, and an agricultural station. Learn more in the video below!


Posted in: Field Campaigns: EL NIร‘O   Investigation Areas: ATMOSPHERE EARTH AS A SYSTEM HYDROSPHERE PEDOSPHERE (SOIL) BIOSPHERE   Primary Audience: TRAINERS TEACHERS STUDENTS PARTNERS SCIENTISTS ALUMNI COUNTRY COORDINATORS


Check out the wonderful ENSO Introductory Video from the National Weather Service Office in Bismarck, North Dakota. USA! Also, to gain a more in-depth knowledge of the science of ENSO, please visit our friends at the State Climate Office of North Carolina. The have some excellent ENSO information, with links to some pertinent external expertise.


Posted in: Field Campaigns: EL NIร‘O   Primary Audience: TRAINERS TEACHERS STUDENTS PARTNERS SCIENTISTS ALUMNI COUNTRY COORDINATORS


Scientists rely on research, statistical models, and climate forecast models to help them determine upcoming natural events. Currently, scientists are have a difficult time deciding if and when the potential big El Niรฑo event will happen. It will happen in 2017, but will it be the Summer or Fall? "Right now, many climate forecast models do predict the development of a full-fledged El Niรฑo during this summer or fall. Itโ€™s likely that these models are acting on the much warmer-than-average waters near the coast of South America—the โ€œCoastal El Niรฑo" says Anthony Barson in his NOAA ...


Posted in: Curriculum: STEM ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION EDUCATION RESEARCH LANGUAGE CULTURE AND ARTS SCIENCE AND MATH TECHNOLOGY   Field Campaigns: EL NIร‘O SMAP   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   Primary Audience: PARTNERS SCIENTISTS ALUMNI COUNTRY COORDINATORS TRAINERS TEACHERS STUDENTS


Just when you think that perhaps the weather systems are settling down- our amazing scientific instruments are able to detect a potential change! I never cease to be amazed at what we are able to learn about Earth's systems- both from the ground and from space!  This article from the New York Times just came across my newsfeed- " It's Like it Never Left: Another El Nino May be on the Way ". In the article, it states that " Among the potential effects are wetter conditions across the southern United States, including Southern California; a drier Midwest; and drought in ...


Posted in: Curriculum: STEM EDUCATION RESEARCH SCIENCE AND MATH   Event Topics: CAMPAIGNS AND PROJECTS (IOPS, ETC)   Field Campaigns: EL NIร‘O   GLOBE Science Topics: EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE CLIMATE CHANGE BACKYARD SCIENCE 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   News Topics: VIRTUAL SCIENCE FAIR   Primary Audience: PARTNERS SCIENTISTS ALUMNI COUNTRY COORDINATORS TRAINERS TEACHERS STUDENTS


How do you ENSO? Did you know that students from around the world are taking measurements as part of the NASA GLOBE ENSO Student Research Campaign?  Check out what's happening at the Medford Memorial Middle School in New Jersey, USA! We are looking for YOUR videos, showcasing your students taking measurements that are part of the NASA GLOBE ENSO Student Research Campaign. (Note, you will need to have GLOBE photo releases for each of the students shown in your video. They can be found HERE .   Please contact Brian Campbell for more details and/or ...


Posted in: Curriculum: STEM   Field Campaigns: EL NIร‘O SMAP   Investigation Areas: ATMOSPHERE EARTH AS A SYSTEM HYDROSPHERE PEDOSPHERE (SOIL) BIOSPHERE   Primary Audience: TRAINERS TEACHERS STUDENTS PARTNERS SCIENTISTS ALUMNI COUNTRY COORDINATORS


Consider the rain gauge used in GLOBE, CoCoRaHS, and other citizen science programs. Just four pieces plus 2 mounting screws – an inner graduated cylinder, an outer cylinder, a cap/funnel, and a mounting bracket. The area of the outer tube is exactly 10 times the areas of the inner tube and the cap/funnel, so the graduations on the inner cylinder can be spaced ten times further apart. Thus, 0.2 mm of rain fills the inner tube to a depth of 2.0 mm, which one can read. In addition, if heavy rainfall fills the inner cylinder, the rest of the rainfall overflows into the outer cylinder, ...


Posted in: Curriculum: STEM   Field Campaigns: EL NIร‘O GPM   GLOBE Science Topics: BACKYARD SCIENCE GLOBE PROTOCOLS   Investigation Areas: ATMOSPHERE   Primary Audience: TEACHERS STUDENTS ALUMNI


Please welcome Guest Blogger Shona Emery , a GLOBE 5th/6th Grade STEAM Teacher from Ellis School in Fremont, New Hampshire. This blog is the fourth in a series of posts by GLOBE teachers sharing classroom experiences to support the student research process. The series is supported by NSF funding for the United States Regional Student Research Symposia . If you are a teacher interested in contributing, please contact Haley Wicklein for more information. Specifically, we would love to hear from teachers who can share challenges and advice around the topic of student data ...


Posted in: Curriculum: SCIENCE AND MATH   Event Topics: SCIENCE SYMPOSIA AND FAIRS   GLOBE Science Topics: SCIENTIST SKILLS GLOBE PROTOCOLS GENERAL SCIENCE   Investigation Areas: DISSOLVED OXYGEN FRESHWATER MACROINVERTEBRATES HYDROSPHERE WATER TEMPERATURE WATER TRANSPARENCY PH   Learning Activities: PRACTICING YOUR PROTOCOLS   Primary Audience: TEACHERS   Teacher's Guide: DATA SHEETS UPPER PRIMARY: 3-5 MIDDLE: 6-8 SITE DEFINITION SHEETS PROTOCOL INSTRUCTIONS FIELD GUIDES