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A Comparison of the Mean Temperature of Asphalt, Concrete and Grass as Measured At the Brazil Secondary School Compound Between 2008 and 2014

Organization(s):Brazil Secondary School
Country:Trinidad and Tobago
Student(s):Dana Ali Jessica Ali Elysha Bailey Jessica Isaac Chanecia Pillgrim Maya Ragbir Shivnarine Ramlogan Dariana Seeram
Grade Level:Middle School (grades 6-8, ages 11-14)
GLOBE Educator(s):Kameel Mohammed-Ali
Contributors:Mrs. Roshni Madoo Ms. Dinelle Ramnath
Report Type(s):International Virtual Science Symposium Report
Protocols:
Presentation Poster: View Document
Language(s):
Date Submitted:03/11/2016
The BSS GLOBE Club is investigating the differences in the surface temperature of (i) grass, (ii) concrete and (iii) pitch. This is of particular importance to the students of Brazil Village as there have been marked developments in this community over the last 15 years. There is a distinct trend away from the rural life and one towards urbanization. This has been supported by a gradual replacement of the natural vegetation of the community by infrastructural support for the rapidly developing community. The data collected during the period 2008 to 2014 showed that there were increases in the ambient temperatures of both the concrete and the asphalt surface and a decrease in the ambient temperature of the grass field. The data also showed the ambient temperature of the asphalt was consistently higher than the other two surfaces and that of the grass field consistently lower. It was concluded that these differences in ambient temperature was primarily due to the moisture holding capacity of the surfaces and to some extent the dark coloration of the asphalt. It was recommended that similar investigations be done at a different time of the year. It was also recommended that the exact moisture capacity of each surface be quantified and compared. Finally, a detailed description of the extent of urbanization in Brazil Village was suggested, to determine its effect on the microclimate of the community.


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Comments

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Sylivester Chaisamba
8 Years Ago - Edited
Very interesting study! I'm very impressed with your analysis, and the creative and thorough approaches you took to create and answer you research question. Two questions;
1. Students collected the data used in this study, i.e. 2008-2014?
2. Do you plan to share the findings of this study with your local community? Especially the nearby schools?
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Ulle Kikas
8 Years Ago
I very much enjoyed your investigation about changes around your school! You’ve understood that the global changes begin from small changes happening locally.
It is remarkable, that the GLOBE students in your school have measured the surface temperatures in several years. It enables you to investigate changes over time! You’ve confirmed with your measurements that the temperatures of paved surfaces are higher than the temperatures of natural grass surfaces independently of the year. Congratulations!

Please describe how you divided roles in your research project.

What other phenomena impact the surface temperatures in addition to the surface cover. Have you considered all those phenomena in your research? What important data could be added for making your conclusions stronger?
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Julie Malmberg
8 Years Ago
To Sylivester -

From the students of Brazil Secondary School -

Responses

1. The data used from 2008-2014 were taken by students from the school who have now graduated and

we got the data from our GLOBE records.

2. We plan to share the findings with our local government office so they can utilize the information in

their planning and construction activities, we also plan to share the data with nearby schools and a

university campus located in a town close to our school; with their resources they may be able to do

more in-depth studies which could benefit the wider community.
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Julie Malmberg
8 Years Ago
To Ülle -

From the students of Brazil Secondary School -

Responses

1. We divided ourselves into groups to complete the project into data collection, data

analysis (graph production) and organization of the written report. We then asked our

teachers to review our project before submitting the final product.

2. Other than surface cover, rainfall and cloud cover can impact the surface temperature.

3. In our research we did not look at the influence of rainfall or cloud cover on the surface

temperature, but can do so in a further research.

4. For this research we looked at surface temperature data over a few days of the same

month for several years; to improve our research we need to take data over many

months covering both our dry and wet seasons.
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Krisanadej Jaroensutasinee
8 Years Ago
This is a fabulous student report and interesting findings. It has been a great efforts for a long term GLOBE surface temp measurements. Keep all your great work. Here are my questions.
(1) What would you predict for the surface temp if you measure them at night with all three surface types?
(2) From the data in a table, some asphalt temperatures were as high as 53.8 degree C. Why is that?