2015 Kilimanjaro Learning Xpedition
Take Learning to New Heights: Participate in the Kilimanjaro Learning Xpedition!
On 8th of October 2015, classrooms joined members of the Mt. Kilimanjaro Learning Xpedition Team in a Discovery Education webinar from Westview Middle School (a GLOBE school) in Longmont, Colorado, USA.
You can watch the full HD version of the webinar by viewing the video on the right or by clicking, here.
Collaborators
The 2015 Kilimanjaro Learning Xpedition, which was led by GLOBE teacher and partner Michael O' Toole, is a joint project between The GLOBE Program, a worldwide K-12 science and education program, GLOBE Africa, Colorado's St. Vrain Valley School District, and Discovery Education, the leading provider of digital content and professional development for K-12 classrooms.
The trek to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro takes us through six distinct biomes. Students following online are challenged to answer the question "What is it like where you live?" GLOBE students: enter your data here. If you are NOT a GLOBE student you can use Discovery Education's Board Builder to tell us about the space around you.
Webinars
Interactive webinars provided online followers with important information about the Xpedition, as well as the diversity of observations made by our international team. This webinar was hosted by Discovery Education and was broadcast Live from the United States.
Share your Thoughts
Let us know about your experiences participating in an online expedition. Send us a photo of your classroom or related outdoor experience, along with comments from students and teachers by email, to communications@globe.gov. For example, see the preparations underway to participate in the 2015 Xpedition by students and teachers of the Notre Dame School, Santo Dominigo, Dominican Republic.
Your students can learn about collecting environmental data from each of Mt. Kilimanjaro's six biomes and also meet a NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientist who discusses the NASA SMAP Mission.
Dr. Tony Murphy, Director of the GLOBE Implementation Office, was a member of the 2015 Xpedition team. Originally from Killarney, Ireland, Dr. Murphy had trained for his trek to the summit through weekend hikes up into the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, in Boulder, Colorado. Read his blogs from the mountain here.
The Xpedition team entered their data for air temperature, clouds, surface temperature, relative humidity, soil temperature, and several parameters of water on the mountain (pH, electrical conductivity and dissolved oxygen) into the GLOBE database. GLOBE users can access these for visualization analyses, and further research.
Xpedition Calendar and Daily Journal
The 2015 Xpedition team members begin their climb on 24 September and returned to the base of the mountain on 1 October. Click here for the daily stops en route to the summit and a map that plots the way. You can read the daily updates from members of the Xpedition team on the Discovery Education blog.
A four-part documentary film about the Xpedition, sponsored by the National Science Foundation, was produced to record the research experience of the Kilimamjaro Learning Xpediition team in 2012. These four films provide a glimpse of what it is like on this amazing trek to the summit of the tallest mountain in Africa, along with insights into the scientific value of the Xpedition.