News - NASA Langley Research Center

What color is the sky today? The GLOBE Kids - Anita, Simon, and Dennis want to know why the sky isn't always the same shade of blue and sometimes isn't even blue. Through the new Elementary GLOBE Aerosols Storybook and Learning Activities, the GLOBE Kids learn there's a lot more than air in the atmosphere, which can affect the colors we see in the sky. This newest storybook and activities was developed with NASA's CALIPSO and SAGE missions and focusses on aerosols. The two mission EPO leads, Jessica Taylor and Kristyn Damadeo, presented these new materials to the NASA Science Mission Directorate Earth Science EPO Forum on August 10.  >>

Are you looking for small grants to support GLOBE in your community? IDEA WILD is a nonprofit that supports community projects related to biodiversity conservation, research, or education through small grants (up to $1,500 USD). These grants can be used to purchase GLOBE equimpment or support GLOBE education initiatives.  >>

The city of Los Angeles was home to 225 members of the GLOBE Community from 19-24 July as the location of the 19th GLOBE Annual Partner Meeting and the 3rd Student Research Exhibition. While much of California baked in the hot summer sun during the worst drought in California's recorded history, GLOBE students, teachers, partners, and scientists kept themselves refreshed with conversations and presentations about citizen science, new data apps, regional events and collaborations, and cool ways they've been celebrating GLOBE's 20th Anniversary.  >>

The Science Teacher (TST), the award-winning journal of the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), has issued a call for manuscripts that describe new and creative ideas for the secondary science classroom – and The GLOBE Program would like to encourage GLOBE teachers to share their GLOBE science experience and expertise with TST's savvy and sophisticated audience.  >>

July 2015 News Brief  >>

In 2015, GLOBE Ukraine held a Student Phenology Campaign called "Cherry Ukraine." The aim of the campaign, which lasted from February through May, was to engage students from Ukraine in investigation of the vegetation cycles of wild cherry (Prunus cerasus) and Nanking cherry (Prunus tomentosa). During the campaign, participants observed budbursts of the cherry species, measuring solar noon temperature and reporting their data to the GLOBE website. Overall, 686 students and 89 teachers from 70 schools and educational institutions from all over Ukraine participated in the campaign.  >>

On July 29, Jessica Taylor presented to a group of 19 mathematics teachers on "Using Systems Thinking and Modeling Tools to understand Carbon Cycle." Teachers participated in the session as part of the MODSIM (modeling and simulation) week-long workshop for teachers, held at NASA's Langley Research Center. Teachers were trained in the GLOBE Carbon Cycle curriculum and learned about OCO-2, NASA's latest Earth-observing satellite mission to better understand global carbon cycle.  >>

The Eye on Earth (EoE) Alliance is sending four winners to Abu Dhabi, UAE, to attend the 2015 EoE Summit in October, and present their work to thought leaders and decision makers in the environmental data sphere.  >>

The GLOBE Implementation Office (GIO) and WestEd have created new rubrics to be used for the 2016 GLOBE International Virtual Science Fair. These rubrics have been reviewed by the GLOBE Working Groups; however, GIO is seeking community feedback by 21 August 2015.  >>

GLOBE recently implemented quality control improvements that will help ensure that data associated with a school are counted properly (and only once), and that data of one type is equally counted when compared to data of the same type with other schools.  >>