Blog - Julie Malmberg

On 15 April 2021, Rosalba Giarratano and I were joined by Jillian Anderson (teacher) and Andrew Constantinescu, Alexandra Quiroz, and Ilhum Haque (students) from the Lexington School for the Deaf to learn about American Sign Language (ASL) and some science words in ASL. We were also joined by Lisa Dennett, an ASL interpreter.Here is a recording of the video (make sure to turn on...

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:...

A version of this blog was originally posted on November 14, 2012.  If you have been listening to the news or following along with weather and climate web pages, you have probably heard the term "ENSO."  ENSO, or El Niño-Southern Oscillation, is a quasi-periodic climate pattern that occurs in the tropical Pacific Ocean.  When the conditions change, the atmosphere responds in...

Most trees obtain water through their massive root systems, but did you know that some trees can absorb water through their leaves as well? This ability is called foliar uptake. Scientists recently discovered that trees in cloud forests use foliar uptake to obtain water. A cloud forest is a forest that has persistent or seasonally persistent fog or low-level cloud cover. Cloud forests are...

GLOBE’s Earth as a System investigation area cultivates students’ awareness of an intricate web of global connections. Similar to real world scientists, students explore life science concepts, learning that “organisms can only survive where their needs are met.”  The Earth as a System investigation area encourages students to observe patterns and connections, such as through phenology....

Blog originally posted on the GLOBE Scientists' Blog at http://blog.globe.gov/sciblog/2012/08/28/full-circle-superior-part-ii-studying-streams/ We have a guest blogger this week.  Mike Linke is posting his second blog in a series about his walk with his wife, Kate Crowley, around Lake Superior. This is the second in a series about the science of Full Circle Superior; a walk around...

Sometimes, part of being a scientist is dealing with the unexpected. During research projects, scientists might get very surprising results. Or, something might happen to completely change the scope of the project. This is exactly what happened to a group of scientists in Chile. Scientists were studying how man-made armoring, such as seawalls, impact the ecology of beaches in Chile and...

Since the end of January 2012, Europe has been experiencing record-breaking cold temperatures and heavy snowfalls.  Temperatures are dropping to -40°C (-40°F) and below in Europe.  The canals of Venice are freezing over (the first time since 1991) and sections of the Black Sea have frozen (the first time since 1977).  And, Rome has received its first substantial snowfall since...

Communities in the Sahel region of Africa depend on trees for firewood, food, building materials, and even medicine.  Anecdotal observations in this savannah climate, a transition region to the south of the Sahara Desert, have suggested the number of trees is decreasing.  A recent study by a group of researchers at the University of California at Berkeley has provided scientific...

From January 22 to 26, 2012, scientists from around the world gathered for the American Meteorological Society annual meeting, which was held in New Orleans, Louisiana.  Scientists from the GLOBE Program stayed next to the beautiful Mississippi River. The Mississippi River in New Orleans (photo courtesy of Dr. Donna Charlevoix) The Mississippi River is the lifeblood of New...