Before the L.A. GLOBE Conference in 2015, I sent a request to Gwynne Shotwell for a mini-learning expedition to the Space X HQ in Hawthorne. The HQ could only take a small group and it included the GLOBE Africa Coordinator, a GLOBE Japan Partner and Trainer, a GLOBE Japan teacher, GLOBE students from San Diego and their parents.
Since then GLOBE training in Okinawa focused on Integrated One Day Atmospheric Measurements and the Cloud Cover Protocol, using the app GLOBE Observer. Trainees are introduced to the satellites that measure clouds from above and that we supplement with measurements from below the clouds. At the mention of satellites and the rockets that loft them, I share with them our learning expedition to Space X and Gwynne's response to a question, "When do we begin talking about space to a child?" The question and her response was at a TED talk that I paraphrase here: "As early as when they turn three."
When Nana turned three, she sent birthday greetings to Gwynne. They share the same date of birth. Nana is now six and is doing GLOBE in the context of Early Reminiscing Environment (ERE). Elaine Reese studied 40-month-old children for ten years and found that young teens who had ERE had a more positive self-image, were resilient and could very well withstand bullying. They also excelled in language skills that put them at the top of their class.
Nana and her three-year-old sister like taking pictures of clouds by getting the letters N, S, E, W, U, and D in the circle. The app takes the picture for them when they maneuver the camera to get a letter in the circle on the screen. They do GLOBE as part of their being in the MARS Pipeline, a community action to fill the career paths to Math, Aerospace, and Research in the Sciences (MARS), a version of the STEM Pre-K --20 Pipeline of the Space Foundation. In Nana's case, Pre-K was with Ryukyu Montessori School and 17-20 shall be the graduate research university called Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST).
