GLOBE Classrooms

GLOBE involves students of all ages in scientific discovery of the Earth as a system and provides opportunities for hands-on learning to help them better understand, sustain, and improve Earth's environment at local, regional, and global scales. Additionally, GLOBE protocols are designed to help students develop a wide range of 21st Century skills, including critical thinking, scientific research methodologies, data analysis, independent learning, and big-picture thinking (taking local information and seeing global implications). In addition, students connect with their community through science projects and with students and scientists worldwide who are contributing to global studies of the environment, offering the opportunity for development of cultural sharing and understanding.

GLOBE provides training and professional development for all teacher participants. With GLOBE materials, teachers learn how to integrate hands-on projects into their curriculum and provide their students with an innovative way to get excited about, and involved in, Earth system science. Teachers can also connect to a network of other GLOBE teachers from around the world. GLOBE is a flexible supplement to a standard curriculum and can be tailored to fit individual classroom needs.

The GLOBE Teacher's Guide, available online and searchable by concept and grade level, includes over 50 rigorous scientific protocols, more than 60 Learning Activities, sample lessons, unit plans, and pedagogical hints for using GLOBE in the classroom and specific scientific explanations to guide the teaching and implementation of all protocols. A set of five Elementary GLOBE books further assist teachers to introduce K-4 students to the study of Earth system science. GLOBE also has online learning modules and other supplemental materials readily available for classroom use.

No. GLOBE materials can be used across the curriculum. GLOBE promotes cross-discipline integration; any classroom, including non-STEM subjects such as geography, social studies, language, art, and culture, can participate in The GLOBE Program.

Pedagogically, GLOBE helps teachers understand and implement the inquiry process with their students and provides the opportunity for students to become scientists working with their peers around the world.

Students, parents, scientists, teachers, and anyone else interested in joining GLOBE should contact the GLOBE Community Support Team via email globehelp@ucar.edu or via telephone (1-800-858-9947), Monday - Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Mountain Standard Time.

The scientific protocols used in The GLOBE Program are developed by scientists, tested in classrooms around the world, and executed by students and teachers worldwide. The GLOBE development and training process ensures that protocols produce standardized, research-quality data that can be used in support of student and professional scientific research.

Teachers from around the world are trained to conduct the GLOBE scientific measurement protocols and learning activities to implement them in their classrooms. Students use the protocols to collect consistent, scientifically valid measurements and then upload these data to the GLOBE database. The measurements create global data sets in multiple Earth spheres, including: Atmosphere (weather), Hydrosphere (water), Pedosphere (soils), and Biosphere (study of animal and plant life cycles).

GLOBE's science data are freely available.  Anyone can access GLOBE data by visiting the GLOBE website.

The strict scientific protocols, developed by scientists working in collaboration with educators, ensures that GLOBE data can be used to support student and professional scientific research related to Atmosphere (weather), Hydrosphere (water), Pedosphere (soils), and Biosphere (study of animal and plant life cycles).