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Introduction/Theory
For my mosquito experiment, I am testing how different kinds of bait affect the number of oviposition in my trap. Different mosquito species are attracted to different habitats, natural or artificial, some of which have been changing due to climate change. Mosquitoes are the most dangerous animal in the world because of their disease transmitting abilities, so understanding their oviposition instincts could be crucial in order to prevent further spreading of dangerous diseases such as the dengue virus, malaria, or the zika virus.
Variables ...
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GLOBE Science Topics:
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE
Investigation Areas:
HYDROSPHERE
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
MOSQUITOES
Primary Audience:
STUDENTS
TEACHERS
Student Research Reports:
INTERNATIONAL VIRTUAL SCIENCE SYMPOSIUM REPORT
MISSION MOSQUITO REPORT
Research Questions: My experiment ran two adjacent triads of mosquito traps aimed to explore two questions: whether the local mosquito species in my area prefer to oviposit in containers with greater surface areas of water, and whether the same mosquitoes would prefer to oviposit in particular containers with varying types of water "bait".
Data: After 5 weeks of running this experiment, I failed to capture even a single mosquito larva. I'll go into further depth as to why this might've been later on in the "Conclusion" section. Both experiments suffered from a ...
Posted in:
Curriculum:
STEM
GLOBE Science Topics:
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE
Investigation Areas:
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
MOSQUITOES
Primary Audience:
STUDENTS
TEACHERS
Student Research Reports:
INTERNATIONAL VIRTUAL SCIENCE SYMPOSIUM REPORT
MISSION MOSQUITO REPORT
*Last Updated July 14, 2022
Purpose: For my experiment, I am testing what color container and type of water mosquitos are most attracted to.
Background research: During the weekly science session with Dr. Alison Parker, I learned more about mosquito habitats and where mosquitos breed. Mosquitos lay their eggs in/near water, and mosquitos in their early larvae and pupae stages live in water. This information guided me to choose my AOI coordinates in an area with standing water. The coordinates on the red line in the picture run along a ditch that leads into a ...
Posted in:
Curriculum:
STEM
GLOBE Science Topics:
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
Investigation Areas:
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
MOSQUITOES
Primary Audience:
STUDENTS
TEACHERS
I am currently testing the attractability of mosquitoes to black and white, with a control of transparent plastic. This could help us determine what clothes to dress in to avoid mosquito bites, and therefore the spread of disease, when going outside.
Materials:
Three 1 liter clear plastic containers
One 1 liter white plastic container
One 1 liter black plastic container
Five wooden sticks
Fish food
Hypothesis: Mosquitoes will hatch more larvae inside of a white conatiner than a Black container because the white stands out more in a natural environment.
I ...
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GLOBE Science Topics:
GLOBE PROTOCOLS
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE
Investigation Areas:
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
MOSQUITOES
Primary Audience:
STUDENTS
TEACHERS
Student Research Reports:
INTERNATIONAL VIRTUAL SCIENCE SYMPOSIUM REPORT
MISSION MOSQUITO REPORT
Initial Setup
I decided to test how sunlight and container size would effect mosquito oviposition both in terms of how many larvae and what type of larvae are found in each container.
Testing For Sunlight
I found two locations in the same neighborhood with very different levels of sunlight.
My first location is a sunny and open back yard (with my cat):
My second location is a shady backyard near a golf course:
Testing For Container Size
At both locations I placed a 5 gallon home depot bucket and half of a plastic water bottle to compare the ...
Posted in:
Investigation Areas:
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
MOSQUITOES
Primary Audience:
STUDENTS
TEACHERS
Student Research Reports:
INTERNATIONAL VIRTUAL SCIENCE SYMPOSIUM REPORT
MISSION MOSQUITO REPORT
As my trap experiment, I'm comparing location, trap contents, and trap container (mostly the container, hence the title).
I have 8 traps set up across 3 locations - 3 in one, 3 in another, and 2 in the last. Each location's traps all share an origin for the water they use and the bait they use, but each of the traps in a location uses a different type of container - either a dark blue bucket, white bucket, black bucket, or clear soda bottle. As a further variation, the soda bottle traps are much smaller that the bucket traps, giving another layer to the data.
The first set of traps ...
The last 4 weeks of field trips and mosquito mapping have made me curious about the effect of water quality on the habitation of mosquito larvae in water bodies. So far, I have gone to a canal, creeks, ponds, and backyards. All these places vary in their water quality and mosquito larvae content.
<--- The creek I visited had mostly clear water
<--- Canal with poor water quality and lots of algae
Looking beyond AOI for vector-borne disease data
While my field research is limited to the area of interest (AOI), I researched New Jersey vector-borne surveillance reports ...
After reading the article "Container Type Affects Mosquito Oviposition Choice," I was inspired to test how a container's surface area, an abiotic parameter, may affect female mosquito oviposition choice (Parker et al). At first, I was really curious about how the ratio of surface area to volume in a container affected oviposition choice. Thus, I began my experiment by finding containers with different surface areas but of similar volumes so I could control the volume of water in each container and more effectively isolate whether surface area affected oviposition choice. The first ...
Posted in:
Investigation Areas:
HYDROSPHERE
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
MOSQUITOES
Primary Audience:
STUDENTS
TEACHERS
Student Research Reports:
INTERNATIONAL VIRTUAL SCIENCE SYMPOSIUM REPORT
MISSION MOSQUITO REPORT
I currently have four traps in operational order. Two at one of my AOIs and two in backyard that were prototypes that I've left up because they seem to be performing admirably. I My traps have been up for about a week, the prototypes were deployed a day before the other two, and I haven't seen any mosquitos or mosquito larvae. I did take care to note that I used dog food in my trap, specifically the dry kibble variant instead of ones that come in chunks or are wet. I choose dog food over decomposed plant-based organic material because I noticed that the few times I've accidentally ...
Posted in:
GLOBE Science Topics:
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE
Investigation Areas:
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
MOSQUITOES
Primary Audience:
STUDENTS
TEACHERS
Student Research Reports:
INTERNATIONAL VIRTUAL SCIENCE SYMPOSIUM REPORT
MISSION MOSQUITO REPORT
Have you ever wondered why NASA has chosen to follow water ? NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured the distinct signature of water outside our solar system. NASA's Artemis program is examining the presence of water on the Moon in advance of sending and establishing a sustainable human presence there. The answer is simple - water is key to life as we know it, including on planet Earth. Only 2.5% of the water on Earth is fresh, and only a tiny fraction of that is available for use. NASA and other space agencies’ remote sensing satellites provide vital information to ...
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Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion:
DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION
GLOBE Science Topics:
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE
Investigation Areas:
HYDROSPHERE
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
During the SEES internship, I got the opportunity to do data collection fieldwork. This required me to go around my neighborhood and take pictures of specific points that had been calculated using a Python notebook. Some of these points were in parts of my neighborhood that I’d never been to, despite being in my fourteenth year of living there. I even saw a pack of wild javelinas in a particularly remote spot! The task definitely took longer than I expected, but it felt good to know that I had contributed data that would actually help NASA scientists.
I also got to brainstorm my ...
Posted in:
Investigation Areas:
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
MOSQUITOES
Primary Audience:
STUDENTS
TEACHERS
Student Research Reports:
INTERNATIONAL VIRTUAL SCIENCE SYMPOSIUM REPORT
MISSION MOSQUITO REPORT
The weather has been really kicking up quite a bit of whacky weather in November. On November 2, 2021, the town of Kikonai in northern Japan’s Kokkaido prefecture set a record amount of rainfall of 2.2 inches (5.5 centimeters) in 10 minutes. Wow!! That’s a lot of rain in a short amount of time! You can see where the rainfall fell on the image below!
(credit: Extreme weather around the world amid COP26 - The Washington Post )
Meanwhile in Uzbekistan, it saw the worst dust storm in about 50 years! The dust finally settled on November 4, 2021 but ...
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Investigation Areas:
ATMOSPHERE
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
Stratus clouds are one of the three main types of clouds. Remember that there are many types of clouds that fall into three main categories: cumulus, stratus, and cirrus. Using hand-motions , we would stretch out our hands as far out as we could to mimic a stratus cloud. There are stratus-type clouds at all three basic altitude levels. These are: stratus clouds (low level), altostratus clouds (mid level), and cirrostratus clouds (high level). When stratus-type clouds are present, your skies will most likely be overcast or the cloud cover is 90% or more. Note, there is a ...
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Curriculum:
SCIENCE AND MATH
STEM
GLOBE Science Topics:
GENERAL SCIENCE
GLOBE PROTOCOLS
Investigation Areas:
ATMOSPHERE
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
Primary Audience:
ALUMNI
COUNTRY COORDINATORS
PARTNERS
STUDENTS
TEACHERS
TRAINERS
Many protocol-trained GLOBE members may have noticed a recent update to the GLOBE Program’s GLOBE Observer app. The change brings a new look and a new way to submit GLOBE atmospheric measurements. If you were used to entering meteorological conditions in the Cloud Tool, you’ll see this option is no longer there. Don’t worry, you can still submit these observations through the Atmosphere Data Entry section. You just need to do a few extra steps to get it all set up. The new update gives you the opportunity to save your favorite or go to observations as a bundle, a step you ...
Posted in:
GLOBE Science Topics:
CLIMATE
CLIMATE CHANGE
DATA INCLUDED
GENERAL SCIENCE
GLOBE PROTOCOLS
Investigation Areas:
ATMOSPHERE
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
Primary Audience:
ALUMNI
COUNTRY COORDINATORS
PARTNERS
TEACHERS
TRAINERS
Red-vented Bulbul's Nesting Cycle
Introduction:
"Birds are a miracle because they show us that there is a finer, simpler state of being that we can strive for"
And the red-vented bulbul ( Pycnonotus cafer ) demonstrated this reality by nesting inside our house. She used to observe each of us, attaining an understanding of our lifestyles, and then trust us as she was concerned about predators such as cats in the neighbourhood posing a threat to her nest.
In the beginning, she was just roaming around the house looking for a safer place, and ...
Posted in:
Curriculum:
EDUCATION RESEARCH
SCIENCE AND MATH
GLOBE Science Topics:
BACKYARD SCIENCE
GENERAL SCIENCE
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
SCIENTIST SKILLS
GLOBE Working Groups:
SCIENCE WORKING GROUP
EDUCATION WORKING GROUP
Investigation Areas:
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
BIOSPHERE
Learning Activities:
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
Primary Audience:
ALUMNI
COUNTRY COORDINATORS
PARTNERS
SCIENTISTS
STUDENTS
TEACHERS
TRAINERS
Every time you take a cloud observation, the NASA GLOBE Clouds team matches your observation to satellite data. Why do we do this? Your view of clouds is from a different perspective than what is observed from a satellite. Satellites look down at clouds and see the top. When you make your observation, you are looking up towards the sky and seeing the bottom of the clouds. When there is a match, scientists then have a top-down view of clouds from a satellite and a bottom-up view from your spot. When you mix these two views together, you have a more complete picture of the sky. ...
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Curriculum:
EDUCATION RESEARCH
SCIENCE AND MATH
STEM
GLOBE Science Topics:
BACKYARD SCIENCE
CLIMATE
CLIMATE CHANGE
DATA INCLUDED
GENERAL SCIENCE
GLOBE PROTOCOLS
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE
SCIENTIST SKILLS
Investigation Areas:
ATMOSPHERE
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
News Topics:
REGIONS
Primary Audience:
ALUMNI
COUNTRY COORDINATORS
PARTNERS
SCIENTISTS
STUDENTS
TEACHERS
TRAINERS
The NASA GLOBE Clouds team highlights cloud observers Hilde Fålun Strøm (Norway) and Sunniva Sorby (Canada), who created Hearts In The Ice to call attention to all the rapid changes occurring in the polar regions due to the changing climate. These citizen scientists made history last year by being the first women to overwinter solo in the high Arctic. They spent 12 consecutive months without running water or electricity at a remote trappers cabin called “Bamsebu” in Svalbard, Norway. While they were there, they made numerous GLOBE cloud observations as ...
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Curriculum:
LANGUAGE CULTURE AND ARTS
STEM
GLOBE Science Topics:
BACKYARD SCIENCE
CLIMATE
CLIMATE CHANGE
DATA INCLUDED
GENERAL SCIENCE
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE
SCIENTIST SKILLS
GLOBE Working Groups:
SCIENCE WORKING GROUP
EDUCATION WORKING GROUP
Investigation Areas:
ATMOSPHERE
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
News Topics:
COMMUNITY LETTERS
NEWS BRIEFS
Primary Audience:
ALUMNI
COUNTRY COORDINATORS
PARTNERS
SCIENTISTS
STUDENTS
TEACHERS
TRAINERS
The NASA GLOBE Clouds team is continuously working with scientists around the world finding ways that cloud observations from citizen scientists impact the most. As we find new ways of using the data, we want to remind you how important each part of your cloud report is to the scientific community. All cloud observations can help with big questions such as the link between clouds and climate. Dr. Patrick Taylor is an atmospheric scientist at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. In the Clouds and Earth’s Climate video , Patrick discusses how he studies clouds to ...
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Curriculum:
ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION
EDUCATION RESEARCH
SCIENCE AND MATH
STEM
GLOBE Science Topics:
BACKYARD SCIENCE
CLIMATE
CLIMATE CHANGE
GENERAL SCIENCE
GLOBE PROTOCOLS
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE
SCIENTIST SKILLS
GLOBE Working Groups:
SCIENCE WORKING GROUP
EDUCATION WORKING GROUP
Investigation Areas:
ATMOSPHERE
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
Learning Activities:
ATMOSPHERE AND CLIMATE
News Topics:
COMMUNITY LETTERS
NEWS BRIEFS
Primary Audience:
ALUMNI
COUNTRY COORDINATORS
PARTNERS
SCIENTISTS
STUDENTS
TEACHERS
TRAINERS
Student Research Reports:
STANDARD RESEARCH REPORT
Teacher's Guide:
INVESTIGATION AREA DOCUMENTS
Each cloud observation submitted using the GLOBE Observer app or through The GLOBE Program is compared to data from multiple satellites. A satellite match is when satellite data is identified that corresponds to a cloud observation. For orbiting satellites the observation must be within 15 minutes before or after a satellite’s overpass. Geostationary satellites, like the GOES satellites, are always observing the same location. If you are in the United States, you are likely to get a satellite match to a GOES satellite. These satellites are sending data every 15 minutes. As long ...
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Curriculum:
SCIENCE AND MATH
STEM
GLOBE Science Topics:
BACKYARD SCIENCE
CLIMATE
GENERAL SCIENCE
GLOBE PROTOCOLS
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE
SCIENTIST SKILLS
Investigation Areas:
ATMOSPHERE
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
News Topics:
COMMUNITY LETTERS
NEWS BRIEFS
Primary Audience:
ALUMNI
COUNTRY COORDINATORS
PARTNERS
SCIENTISTS
STUDENTS
TEACHERS
TRAINERS
The NASA GLOBE Clouds team at NASA Langley Research Center is working with NASA scientist Dr. Bill Smith to use GLOBE Cloud observations made by people just like you to solve the Terminator Problem!
Wait, what? Well, the Solar Terminator or twilight zone is that line that separates the daylit side of a planet from the dark night side. The image on the left is an example. It was taken from the International Space Station as it crossed the terminator on April 17, 2019 as it orbits 254 miles above the Gulf of Guinea on Africa’s mid-western coast.
...
Posted in:
Curriculum:
EDUCATION RESEARCH
SCIENCE AND MATH
TECHNOLOGY
STEM
GLOBE Science Topics:
BACKYARD SCIENCE
CLIMATE
CLIMATE CHANGE
DATA INCLUDED
GENERAL SCIENCE
GLOBE PROTOCOLS
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE
SCIENTIST SKILLS
Investigation Areas:
ATMOSPHERE
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
Learning Activities:
ATMOSPHERE AND CLIMATE
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
News Topics:
COMMUNITY LETTERS
NEWS BRIEFS
Student Research Reports:
STANDARD RESEARCH REPORT
INTERNATIONAL VIRTUAL SCIENCE SYMPOSIUM REPORT
U.S. STUDENT RESEARCH SYMPOSIA (SRS)
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