News Brief
November 2015 GLOBE News Brief
Image of the Week
On 14 October 2015, President Park Geun-hye, of the Republic of Korea, visited NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, USA. The visit offered an opportunity to celebrate collaborative efforts between the United States and the Republic of Korea.
News
GLOBE Welcomes Mauritius as Newest Partnering Country
On 5 October 2015, Acting Senior Chief Executive R.P. Ramlugun, Ministry of Education and Human Resources, Tertiary Education and Scientific Research of Mauritius, and U.S. Ambassador Shari Villarosa signed the agreement establishing Mauritius as the newest GLOBE partnering country. The signing took place at the Ministry of Education and Human Resources.
GLOBE Salutes Schools Making it "All Add Up" During Data Entry Challenge Week: 11-17 October
The GLOBE Implementation Office salutes the students and teachers who participated in the Data Entry Challenge (11-17 October 2015) - and their extraordinary efforts in reporting data for the expansion of scientific research and understanding.
The GLOBE Program thanks all participating students and teachers for digging in and making the data count! With your help, it all adds up!
GLOBE Europe Aerosols Campaign - Keeping Eyes on the Sky
GLOBE students across the Europe are once again focused on the atmosphere during the second Intensive Observation Period of the Europe Aerosols Campaign in 2015, from 12 October through 8 November. Aerosols - whether produced by natural or human-caused processes - are tiny particles suspended in the air. They influence the air quality on both a local and global scale and are linked to our changing climate.
The GLOBE Aerosol Campaign Team prepared classroom activities and experiments for learning more about aerosols and atmosphere. (The new GLOBE Elementary Aerosols storybook and learning activities, published in August 2015, can also support learning about aerosols, for younger students.)
Opportunities for Students
NASA SMAP Campaign for GLOBE Students Has Begun!
The NASA SMAP satellite team needs your volumetric soil moisture data! On 31 January 2015, NASA launched an Earth observing satellite called Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP). Its purpose is to measure soil moisture globally with a high level of accuracy. However, ground measurements are needed in order to validate the satellite remotely sensed measurements.
You can participate in the 7-month-long SMAP satellite mission soil moisture measurement campaign from 1 October 2015 through 30 April 2016. The GLOBE SMAP team created the SMAP Block Pattern Soil Moisture Protocol so that GLOBE students can collect soil moisture measurements just like the SMAP satellite.
Throughout the campaign, the SMAP team will present webinars, blog posts, and interactions with NASA scientists.(Click here to explore recent blog posts, including "Why SMAP Matters!" by Brian Campbell, NASA Senior Earth Science Education Specialist.) The GLOBE Implementation Office will offer global shout-outs to the top three collecting teams and countries. Please join us in this exciting campaign!
Opportunities for Teachers
Free NASA STEM Educator Webinars
The NASA STEM Educator Professional Development Collaborative (EPDC) is presenting a series of webinars open to all educators. All pre-service, K-12, and informal educators, as well as university faculty, are invited to join NASA education specialists to learn about NASA missions, activities, lesson plans, educator guides, and online resources that integrate NASA and STEM into the classroom.
An upcoming webinar, "Dance of the Planets: Motion Laws and the Solar System" is geared toward educators in grade levels 4 through 6. Through this webinar, which is presented by John Weis (at 6:00 p.m. ET on 23 November 2015), participants will get an overview of resources for relating motion equations from Isaac Newton and Johannes Kepler to the bodies of the Solar System. This webinar addresses the Next Generation Science Standards Performance Expectations ESS1, PS2, and PS3.
Use Blogs from Scientists in Your Classroom
Teachers can now share first-hand stories from scientists (blogs) in the classroom. In order to celebrate Earth Science Week's theme of Visualizing Earth Systems, NASA scientists, visualizers, and others affiliated with NASA Earth science, have agreed to share their research and expertise in blog posts, which can be used throughout the year.
The blogs, which are written for middle and high school student audiences, highlight the latest in the creation and scientific utilization of visualizations. In addition to the scientific information provided, the blogs also offer personal stories of scientists engaged in the development of scientific knowledge [a Next Generation Science Standard (NGSS) component under Science and Engineering Practices]. NASA also offers a "Reading Strategies Guide" that teachers can use to help teach science.
GLOBE G6-12 Teachers: Join the GOES-R Education Proving Ground
The GOES-R Education Proving Ground features the design and development of lesson plans and activities for middle and high school students by science teachers working with Education and Outreach (EPO) specialists at the Cooperative Institute of Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS), in close coordination NOAA scientists at the Advanced Satellite Products Branch (ASPB) stationed at CIMSS. The goal of this program is to prepare the education community to be launch ready for new satellite imagery and improved products that will be available in the upcoming GOES-R era.
Show Students Today's View of Earth: Thanks to New NASA Website
NASA recently launched a new website that offers daily images of the full, sunlit side of the Earth. The images are taken by a NASA camera one million miles away on the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR), a partnership between NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA, and the U.S. Air Force.
Once a day NASA will post at least a dozen new color images of Earth acquired from 12 to 36 hours earlier by NASA's Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC). Each daily sequence of images will show the Earth as it rotates, thus revealing the whole globe over the course of a day. The new website also features an archive of EPIC images searchable by date and continent.
Connect With Us
The GLOBE Program depends on you to let us know what is happening in your regions, countries, communities and classrooms. Send us news you would like to share with the GLOBE Community and we'll include it in next month's News Brief. Be sure to include photos, too.
Send your message to communications@globe.gov
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Ready for the 2016 GLOBE Virtual International Science Fair?
GLOBE students - are you ready to show the world what you are learning as part of your experiential, hands-on journey through GLOBE's science practices and protocols? Then The GLOBE Program invites you to participate in the online 2016 GLOBE International Virtual Science Fair.
This is your opportunity to use the GLOBE data that you've entered into the database and to collaborate with scientists of the GLOBE International Scientists' Network (GISN). Every project that is submitted will be hosted on the Student Research Reports section and qualified entries will be entered for a chance to receive a stipend to help offset the cost of attending the 2016 GLOBE Annual Meeting. There is no limit to the number of entries per student or per school. For details on the timeline, rubrics, and resources, read more here. If you have any questions, please email help@globe.gov.
GLOBE Announces 2016 Distinguished Educator Fellowship
The GLOBE Program and the GLOBE Implementation Office (GIO) are excited to announce the second GLOBE Distinguished Educator Fellowship. This fellowship harnesses the GLOBE community expertise in the development of new educational resources that can benefit the whole community.
For this year, teachers, either formal or informal, will work with scientists in the development of GLOBE educational materials. The scientist will support the educator in ensuring scientific accuracy. As part of the application process, the GIO invites teachers to team with scientists on a particular project. There will be three fellowships awarded this year: one for the United States and two for GLOBE countries other than the US.
All interested educators and scientists are invited to attend a webinar about the 2016 Distinguished Educator Fellowship on 12 November 2015 at 20:00 UTC. (To convert to your local time, go here.) Presenting at the webinar will be Mr. John Moore, the 2015 Distinguished Educator Fellow, and Dr. Julie Malmberg, GIO Education and Outreach. If you are unable to attend, the webinar will be recorded and made available for viewing after the webinar date. Register for the webinar today!
Become a Member of a GLOBE Working Group
The GLOBE Implementation Office is seeking nominations for the GLOBE Working Groups. Nominations must be received by 15 November 2015.
The purpose of the Working Groups (WGs) is to enhance the role of GLOBE U.S. and Country Partners and GLOBE Scientists and Educators in shaping the future of the GLOBE Program and supporting the development and implementation of GLOBE worldwide. Four GLOBE WGs have been created, all composed of community members. (To learn more, you can read the WG Terms of Reference document, which outlines the purpose and functions of the four WGs.)
WG Members Needed:
- Evaluation Working Group: One individual from the NENA Region
- Education Working Group: One individual from the NENA Region, one individual from the Asia and Pacific Region, and one individual from the Africa Region
- Science Working Group: One individual from the NENA Region, and one at-large individual (from any region)
- Technology Working Group: Two at-large individuals (from any region)
If you would like to apply to be considered for a place on one of the WGs, please complete the Candidate Statement and send it, along with a two-page resume, to lackey@globe.gov by 15 November 2015. (Please be sure that you fulfill all necessary procedures within your organization that are required to serve on a WG.)
If you would like to nominate someone you think would be a good candidate for a WG, please complete the WG Nomination Form and send it to lackey@globe.gov by 15 November 2015. If you are nominating someone else, please ask that person to send the WG Candidate Statement, along with a two-page resume, to lackey@globe.gov by 15 November 2015. (Please remind nominees that they must fulfill all necessary procedures within their organization that are required to serve on a GLOBE WG.)
Get involved in shaping the future of The GLOBE Program and supporting the development and implementation of GLOBE worldwide by applying to join this effort.
Upcoming 2015 GLOBE Teacher Training Workshops
Upcoming GLOBE teacher training workshops include:
- Cologne, Germany (University of Cologne): 07 November (potential restricted attendance)
- Wayne, Michigan, USA (Wayne RESA): 11 November - 09 December (open to all teachers)
- Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA (University of Arkansas STEM Center): 14 November (open to all teachers)
- Cologne, Germany (University of Cologne): 21 November (potential restricted attendance)
- Cologne, Germany (University of Cologne): 05 December (potential restricted attendance)
Anniversaries
Congratulations to the 10 GLOBE countries celebrating anniversaries of successful GLOBE implementation during the month of November:
Cameroon - 17 years
06 November 1998
Micronesia - 18 years
07 November 1997
Honduras - 18 years
13 November 1997
Mexico - 19 years
15 November 1996
Pakistan - 18 years
18 November 1997
Mali - 18 years
19 November 1997
Lebanon - 17 years
23 November 1998
Cyprus- 17 years
24 November 1998
Uganda - 17 years
26 November 1998
Malta - 8 years
29 November 2007
News Brief Archive
All past issues of the GLOBE News Brief are available in the online archive.
