Audience: Everyone! (Students and teachers all grade levels, informal educators, and the general public)
Dates: July 15, 2020 - August 15, 2020
How to Participate: Spend summer together by discovering clouds from a new perspective. There are many ways to participate. Learn more about clouds with NASA scientists and educators each Thursday on NASA Earth’s Facebook page, do at-home activities, or take cloud or sky observations through the Clouds tool on GLOBE or the GLOBE Observer app. It is all up to you! Show how you took part in this unique event by sharing on social media.
Choose how you want to participate (3 different ways)
Visit https://observer.globe.gov/cloud-challenge-2020 for more information
about each activity listed in the table.
Click on the image to download the Cloud Activity Tracker
Learn more about cloud opacity
Tune in on Thursday, July 30th at noon EST on www.facebook.com/nasaEarth
Tell a friend about your
favorite type of cloud
Estimate Cloud Cover
Tune in on
Thursday, July 16th at noon EST on www.facebook.com/nasaEarth
Explore clouds data in the
GLOBE Visualization System
Download the
GLOBE Observer app
Share your favorite cloud photo
with a friend or on social media (#CloudChallenge)
Construct an Aerosol Sampler
(“Up in the Air” Activity)
Thursday, August 6th at noon EST on www.facebook.com/nasaEarth
Take an observation during a satellite flyover
Video available on how to read a satellite match table
Create a Cloud in a Jar
Thursday, July 23rd at noon EST on www.facebook.com/nasaEarth
Follow GLOBE on social media:
(click on the symbols)
Contribute to a show for
the Fiske Planetarium
Start a nature journal
Thursday, August 13th at noon EST on www.facebook.com/nasaEarth
Science Topic: Satellite Matches to GLOBE Cloud Observations
NASA GLOBE Clouds
Project Scientist Marilé Colón Robles
and Scientific Programmer Tina Rogerson
NASA Langley Research Center
Join Marilé Colón Robles and Tina Rogerson as they share why satellite matches to GLOBE cloud observations are important and how they are done.
Get to know more about them! Marilé, born and raised in Puerto Rico, loves volleyball and music (link). A Poquoson, VA native, Tina loves going to the beach and solving puzzles (link).
At-Home Activity:
Reading a Satellite Match Table
NASA Educator Heather Mortimer
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Join NASA Educator and graphic designer Heather Mortimer as she walks through her own cloud observations and satellite matches. To do this activity all you need is to make a cloud observation through GLOBE or using the GLOBE Observer app during a satellite flyover time and use the satellite match table you receive.
Science Topic: What is Citizen Science?
Atmospheric Scientist Jessica Taylor
Jessica Taylor will share how she started in GLOBE as a student and her path to NASA. Learn more about citizen science and why is it important for NASA. This former Latin dance instructor loves reaching out to students all around the world as she grew up in Florida and in Mexico (link).
At-Home Activity: Cloud Cover Estimation
Join Jessica Taylor and her two daughters as they try out the Cloud Cover Estimation activity. To do this activity all you need is paper (white and blue), scissors, glue or tape, and a marker or pencil.
Science Topic: Clouds and Weather
from 22,000 miles away
Atmospheric Scientist Kris Bedka
Kris Bedka will teach us how clouds relate to weather and how data from geostationary satellites are used to study clouds.
Kris, a Chicago native, enjoys sports, gardening and landscaping, and eating ethnic foods (link).
At-Home Activity: Cloud Cookery
Camp Counselor Lucy Ellisor
Camp Discovery in Blythewood, SC
Join Camp Discovery Camp Counselor Lucy Ellisor and her brother Deon as they do the cloud cookery activity. All you need to do this activity is warm water, a metal tray or cookie sheet, ice, a see-through jar, and a match.
Science Topic: Clouds and Earth’s Climate
Atmospheric Scientist Patrick Taylor
Patrick Taylor will discuss how he studies clouds to look at our changing climate and analyzes data from Low Earth Orbit satellites.
Patrick started his passion for weather when he was in fourth grade at Greenwood Elementary School in Millerstown, Pennsylvania (link).
At-Home Activity: Cloud Clues (Opacity)
GLOBE Educators Joselyn Hathaway
River Road Middle School in Elizabeth City, NC
and Wanda Hathaway
Churchland Middle School in Portsmouth, VA
Join this mother and daughter duo as they do the SciGirls’ cloud clues activity. All you need to do this activity is a transparent item (like cellophane or a bottle full of water), translucent items (like wax paper or tissue paper), opaque items (like construction paper or aluminum foil), a light source and white paper.
Science Topic: Aerosols and Air Quality
Research Scientist Kristina Pistone
Bay Area Environmental Research Institute at
NASA Ames Research Center
Kristina Pistone will talk about aerosols, why NASA studies them, and how they are related to clouds.
Kristina speaks different languages, loves to travel and meet new people as much as she loves collecting data (link).
Up In The Air (Aerosol Catcher)
NASA Educator Angela Rizzi
and Atmospheric Scientist Ali Omar
Join NASA Educator Angie Rizzi as she does the Up In The Air activity that is part of the Elementary GLOBE storybooks series. NASA Scientist Ali Omar will talk about the types of aerosols you can see and cannot see with your eyes.
All you need to do this activity is a copy of the student activity sheet, clear contact paper or tape, a piece of cardboard, a magnifying glass, and a six-sided dice.
Science Topic: The Impact of
Your Observations in Research
Atmospheric Scientist J. Brant Dodson
Brant Dodson will explain the power of citizen science observations and how GLOBE and GLOBE Observer cloud observations are being used in his research.
This Houston, TX native loves looking up at the skies day and night as he is also a backyard astronomer (link)
At-Home Activity: Cloud Fun (Nature Journal)
GLOBE Educator Veshell Lewis
Jackson Public Schools and
University of Southern Mississippi
Join GLOBE educator Veshell Lewis as she does the Cloud Fun activity that is part of the Elementary GLOBE books series. All you need to do this activity is the free Elementary GLOBE storybook: Do You Know That Clouds Have Names?, paper, the GLOBE cloud chart, newspaper, white paper, glue or glue sticks, markers or pencils, and cloud fun activity sheet.
