News - North America
GLOBE Expands Its Reach in Massachusetts
On 14-15 November 2024, a team of GLOBE trainers and Partners headed to Upton, Mass., to present at the Massachusetts K-12 Climate Change Challenge kick-off event.
The initiative was started by GLOBE educator and Massachusetts STEM Teacher of the Year James Gorman, who organized the event with his colleague and Massachusetts History Teacher of the Year Darcy Daniels. The Challenge aims to “empower every student in Massachusetts to tackle climate change head-on …[by] engaging students at every level in various challenges proposed by environmental organizations.”
The GLOBE team was led by Haley Wicklein, University of New Hampshire Leitzel Center, and included GLOBE Mission Earth members Grant Wilson, University of Toledo; Sara Feit and Don DeRosa, Boston University School of Education; and Nico Janik, WestEd; as well as Catherine Bursk from Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI).
The team led six professional development sessions on GLOBE, covering phenology, the Urban Heat Island campaign, the Earth Around Us Tents, clouds and GLOBE pacing guides, the GMRI-developed Nature Note program, and data literacy. The team connected with 27 educators; 22 were trained in GLOBE protocols during the event.
Educators that attended the sessions valued the real-world data collection and NASA connections. They appreciated the ready-to-use classroom resources and integration potential across other subject areas. The sessions were consistently rated as "incredible" and "easily implementable" across grade levels.
The GLOBE team will continue to support educators throughout the year through webinars, email communication, and open office hours. Students will use GLOBE protocols and activities to complete climate challenges that they will present at an end of the year symposium. Students are also encouraged to participate in GLOBE symposia: the International Virtual Science Symposium and the Student Research Symposium.
Read more about the Climate Change Challenge kick-off event.
Photo captions (top to bottom)
- Photo 1: Grant Wilson presents about collecting surface temperature measurements
- Photo 2: Educators practice collecting surface temperature measurements with an infrared thermometer on a paved parking lot
News origin: Leitzel Center at the University of New Hampshire