News - NASA Langley Research Center

What are citizen scientists? Why is their work so important to NASA? Watch the new NASA eClips™ video and find out how you can be a citizen scientist today.  >>

What is El Niño’s impact in South America? Read the latest GLOBE ENSO Student Research Campaign blog by Dorian Wood Janney discussing some of the impacts of the 2015-2016 impacts on parts of Brazil and Columbia.  >>

BSCS (Biological Sciences Curriculum Study), a non-profit curriculum study committed to transforming science teaching and learning, announces a field-test opportunity for middle school life science teachers (grades 6-9) in the United States.  >>

GLOBE is holding a Data Quality Challenge from 28 November through 02 December 2016. Why? Because we need our community members – you – to compare the site locations associated with your account and to correct the ones that need to be corrected. Data entry is about quality as much as quantity!  >>

Register today for the GLOBE ENSO Student Research Campaign webinar: “Collaboration via the ENSO Student Research Campaign.” The webinar will take place on 15 November at 8:00 p.m. EST (1:00 a.m. UTC).  >>

GLOBE community! You can now send your GLOBE-related questions in Spanish! The GLOBE Community Support Team (CST) welcomes a new team member: Jorge Arias.  >>

The rubrics for the 2017 International Virtual Science Symposium (IVSS) are now available.  >>

Tip of the Week: GLOBE eTraining provides the opportunity for new and existing GLOBE users to complete science protocol training at anytime, anywhere. GLOBE eTraining consists of multiple downloadable training modules, interactive digital field and lab experiences, online assessments for each module, and access to support through online discussion forums.  >>

Kick off the Urban Heat Island / Surface Temperature Student Research Campaign next week. Be a part of the opening webinars. Registration required.  >>

NASA educators taught teachers from across the country how to make cloud observations and surface temperature measurements during the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) training workshop Nov. 1-2 at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The workshop was part of an interagency agreement between NASA and the Department of Education to provide NASA content to teachers and the US Department of Education’s afterschool program, 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC). In years past, the Department of Education has offered NASA content for the 21st CCLC program through NASA’s engineering design challenge at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. The program is still offering engineering but wanted to offer a science focus through the GLOBE training workshop at NASA Langley. Educators at NASA Langley developed a curriculum for the GLOBE training that focused on collecting cloud and surface temperature measurements to better understand how clouds impact Earth’s energy budget. During the workshop, teachers learned activities that show children how materials heat up and cool down, how to identify visual opacity, and how to recognize a cloudy sky versus a clear sky. “The teachers are very receptive and excited about what they are bringing back to students,” said Tina Harte, science education team lead for Science Systems and Applications at NASA’s Langley Research Center. When they go back to their schools, teachers will participate in an eight-week 21st CCLC GLOBE atmosphere investigation. Tailored for a middle school audience, the 21st CCLC GLOBE atmosphere investigation teaches students hands-on learning activities developed in a sequence, so that students may actually develop content to ask questions and conduct investigations. “It’s a wonderful learning opportunity for the kids that basically falls in line with what the 21st century is about — non-traditional, hands-on, kinesthetic learning,” said Anthony Tyler, program administrator for 21st CCLC federal programs for Newport News Public Schools. Kinesthetic learning is a type of learning in which students carry out physical activities instead of idly listening. Teachers will return to their classrooms GLOBE certified and ready to teach a new wave of citizen scientists. MaryAnn Jackson NASA Langley Research Center Last Updated: Nov. 15, 2016 Editor: Joe Atkinson  >>