News - University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus

June 2016 GLOBE News Brief

GLOBE Announces 2017 International Virtual Science Fair

The GLOBE Program is pleased to announce the 2017 GLOBE International Virtual Science Fair for students around the world. It's not too early to start thinking about next year! Reports will be due by 03 April 2017; scores and badges will be announced 15 May 2017. Keep checking back for the latest news and instructions! 

News 

 

Have You Registered for The Annual Partner Meeting in Estes Park, Colorado, USA?

This year, GLOBE's Annual Partner Meeting and Student Research Experience will be held in Estes Park, Colorado, USA from 16-21 July. The theme of this year's meeting is "Celebrating the GLOBE Community."
 
If you have already registered, please remember to download and turn in the Liability Forms. If you arrive at the meeting and have not completed and/or turned in all of the forms, your wait time to register and collect your meeting materials will be greatly impacted! Get your forms in today and breeze through the line!
 
Here are some upcoming deadlines and reminders:

4th Student Research Exhibition:
 
The 4th Student Research Exhibition will take place during the poster session of the GLOBE Annual Meeting on Sunday, 17 July. If you are presenting a poster or PowerPoint during this time, please be sure to provide the following information: 

GLOBE School Name
Presentation Title
Presentation Abstract (100-word description, in English)
Student Name(s)
Teacher Name(s)

Indicate whether your presentation is in poster format or PowerPoint format. Please provide this information via email to Katy Lackey by Monday 13 June 2016 to be considered for inclusion in the full program and to reserve presentation space (poster or table).
 
Shuttle Service from Denver International Airport to Estes Park: 

The Estes Park Shuttle runs approximately every 2-3 hours from Denver International Airport to Estes Park (from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Mountain Time) every day. When making your flight arrangements into Denver, please try to arrive during these hours because overnight arrivals could incur extremely long shuttle wait times. If this is unavoidable and your flight is scheduled to arrive after 10:00 p.m. or before 8:00 a.m., be sure to let us know.
 
Booking Your Accommodations:

Please contact the conference hotel directly to book your room. In order to guarantee the Special Conference Rate of $139/night (plus 10.55% tax), you must book your room by 23 June 2016. After 23 June, rooms may become unavailable or may be subject to a higher non-conference rate. There are a limited number of rooms available. (Contact Info: Rocky Mountain Park Inn; 101 South Saint Vrain Avenue; Estes Park, CO  80517; 1-800-803-7837)
 
Click here to make you online reservations. (Click on top-right button: "RESERVATIONS." Under "BOOKING CODE," please enter: UCG.)
 
NOTE:  We have been notified that the conference hotel is having intermittent outages of their online booking system. If you have trouble booking a room online, please call the hotel directly at 970-586-2332 or 800-803-7837 and mention the group name "UCAR/GLOBE."
 
For more information and details about the Annual Meeting, please click here.
 
It's only a few weeks away, so register now! We can't wait to see you in the Colorado Rockies!

Share Your GLOBE El Niño Field Campaign Story!  

Are you participating in the GLOBE El Niño Field Campaign? Now you can share your story! Simply visit the El Niño Story Maps page. There, you can also see how El Niño is affecting people around the world. You'll find two opportunities for you to share your stories with the world - through Story Mapping: H2yOu or through Smart Basins StoryMaps.  
 
The field campaign (which uses a suite of six GLOBE measurement protocols to identify environmental changes affected by El Niño) includes regular webinars that discuss the mechanics of the campaign, provides updates on data collection, and explores science with experts. There are also numerous resources available for your use, including educational activities, videos and infographics, website information, and recent and relevant news articles.
 
Also, be sure to keep up with all of the recent blog posts (including the latest blog telling how 6th grade students at Somerset Intermediate School in Maryland, USA, are synthesizing a year-long study of Earth Science).
 
If you haven't already, you can join the GLOBE El Niño Field Campaign today! (También chequea: Como Participar en Español y Como Participar en Português.)

Need Help Making GLOBE Work for You? GLOBE's CST Has Your Back!

If you ever need help making The GLOBE Program work for you, you only need to remember one thing: GLOBE's Community Support Team (CST) has your back! Just send us an email at help@globe.gov.
 
The CST is available to assist you (Monday through Friday) at 1-800-858-9947. Inquires submitted on the weekend (Saturday and Sunday) will be answered as soon as possible on Monday. The CST is also available to schedule an online meeting, during which time they can share their screen to better help you learn how to use the website (please include times and days that you are available to meet).
 
You can also read through the Frequently Asked Questions, and/or post and view comments in the Community Feedback Forum. We want to hear from you!

Opportunities for Students

 

Become a Presidential Science Advisor!

Students: President Obama is asking for your STEM ideas! The White House has released an online form where students can answer these two questions:
 
What is your favorite thing about science, technology, engineering, or math?

If you could pitch the President one idea on how we could make our country work better using science and technology, what would you say?
 
The deadline for submissions is 17 June at 11:59 p.m. ET. Access the online form here. 

Opportunities for Teachers

 

GOES-R Webinar Series - Countdown to Launch: 17 September

The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites -- R (GOES-R) Series is the next generation of Earth-observing satellites to monitor weather and climate over the Western Hemisphere. The GOES-R satellite series will also include all new instruments that collect lightning data and monitor space weather.
 
The first satellite in the GOES-R series is scheduled for launch in October 2016. In order to help educators prepare for exciting new advances and products during the GOES-R era, the GOES-R Education Proving Ground is hosting a series of webinars leading up to launch. The webinars will be hosted by the Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP) and will take place on the following Saturday mornings at 11:30 a.m. Eastern Time. On 17 September 2016, the webinar "Countdown to Launch!" will take place.

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, "Planetary Missions - NASA, We're Out There: Exploring Strange New Worlds," is geared toward educators in grade levels 5-8. This webinar will be presented on 23 June, 6:00 p.m. ET. Using NASA curriculum, you can be part of a team of scientists living on a planet, orbiting a distant star, on the threshold of exploring your own planetary system for the first time. With planets you have created, teams explore the planets using the methods NASA scientists use to explore our Solar System.

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

Be sure to follow us on social media! Just click on the icons below.

     

 

 

Did You Hear? It's Now the GLOBE International STEM Network (GISN)!

In order to more accurately reflect the mission and purpose of its members, the GISN, which formerly stood for the "GLOBE International Scientists' Network" now stands for the "GLOBE International STEM Network."
 
The GISN is an international network of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) professionals who work with GLOBE students around the world. STEM professionals mentor students and teachers, present scientific ideas, and/or collaborate on scientific research. Each relationship between a STEM professional and a GLOBE school is unique, and is determined by the STEM professional and the school. 
 
Interested in joining this network? Find out how to become a member of the GISN!

Have You Checked Out the New GLOBE eTraining!

Teachers - you no longer have to wait for a face-to-face workshop to get your students to start collecting data using GLOBE protocols. GLOBE now has 28 all new eTraining slide sets and interactives to help you learn the science protocols. Check it out today!

Journal of Science Education and Technology Editors Select Article on GLOBE Costa Rica Study as One Most Likely to "Change the World"

In December 2015, the Springer Nature Journals Editorial Office asked its editors to nominate one article that addressed the world's most pressing challenges - as an article that they felt "Could Change the World." From more than 100 nominations across Springer's portfolio, an article entitled, "The Costa Rica GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) Project as a Learning Science Environment" was selected for the "Change the World, One Article at a Time" campaign.
 
The article, written by M.D. Castro Rojas, A.L.A. Zuñiga, and E.F. Ugalde, describes the main goal of The GLOBE Program in Costa Rica - to develop scientific thinking and interest for science in high school students through hydrology research projects that allow them to relate science with environmental issues in their communities. Read more about the article here!

NOAA Highlights GLOBE as a Resource to Help Implement New Science Standards

NOAA is highlighting GLOBE as a resource for NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards). NOAA is now providing timely, reliable, and actionable information - based on sound science - to help the Nation make smart decisions that impact the future of society, the economy, and the environment.  
 
Resources include "data in the classroom," covering such topics as: El Niño, water quality, sea level rise, coral bleaching, ocean acidification, and more! 

GLOBE/Eco-Schools Summer Online Training

Teachers: want to engage your students in Green STEM? GLOBE, Eco-Schools, and SciStarter are presenting a self-paced online professional development training to provide learning opportunities that are scientifically rigorous while allowing students to address sustainability through service learning. The summer session runs from 13 June through 05 August.
 
Schools will receive the science equipment necessary for students to conduct the GLOBE protocols from Youth Learning As Citizen Environmental Scientists (YLACES). In exchange for the free tools, students (grades 5-12) are expected to enter a minimum of ten Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) measurements and four weeks of precipitation data; or, for teachers of students in grades K-4, four weeks of surface temperature and precipitation data will be expected.

Upcoming 2016 GLOBE Teacher Training Workshops 

Upcoming GLOBE teacher training workshops include:

• Helena, Alabama, USA (Helena Middle School): 13-24 June (restricted to teachers within the region)
• Huntington, West Virginia, USA (Huntington High School): 13 June (restricted to teachers within the region)
• Oxford, Alabama, USA (Oxford Middle School): 13-24 June (restricted to teachers within the region)
• Moulton, Alabama, USA (Lawrence County Center Technology): 14-17 June (restricted to teachers within the region)
• Robertsdale, Alabama, USA (Robertsdale Elementary School): 14-17 June (restricted to teachers within the region)
• Denver, Colorado, USA (Metropolitan State University of Denver): 15 June (open to all teachers)
• Reading, Pennsylvania, USA (The Nature Place at Angelica Park): 18 June (open to all teachers)
• Jasper, Alabama, USA (Maddox Middle School): 20-23 June (restricted to teachers within the region)
• Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA (University of Sioux Falls): 20-23 June (open to all teachers)
• Phenix City, Alabama, USA (Phenix City Elementary School): 21-24 June (restricted to teachers within the region)
• Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA (Westlawn Middle School): 21-24 June (restricted to teachers within the region)
• Brasilia, Brazil (Agencai Espacial Brasileira AEB): 27-29 June (restricted to teachers within the region)
• Florence, Alabama, USA (Florence High School): 27-30 June (restricted to teachers within the region)
• Pierre, South Dakota, USA (GLOBE on the River): 27-30 June (restricted to teachers within the region)
• Opelika, Alabama, USA (Opelika Middle School): 27-30 June (restricted to teachers within the region)
• Scottsboro, Alabama, USA (UAH Scottsboro High School): 27-30 June (restricted to teachers within the region)
• Toledo, Ohio, USA (University of Toledo): 27 June-01 July (open to all teachers)
• Brocton, New York, USA (SUNY Fredonia - College Lodge): 06-07 July (open to all teachers) 

Anniversaries

Congratulations to the 10 GLOBE countries celebrating anniversaries of successful GLOBE implementation during the month of June:

Kenya - 19 years

9 June, 1997

Kyrgyz Republic - 21 years

9 June, 1995

Madagascar - 19 years

11 June, 1997

Ireland - 21 years

12 June, 1995

Bahrain - 15 years

16 June, 2001

Estonia - 20 years

19 June, 1996

Dominican Republic - 19 years

20 June, 1997

Argentina - 21 years

28 June, 1995

Republic of Congo - 11 years

28 June, 2005

Monaco - 16 years

29 June, 2000

News Topics: News Briefs type: globe-news

News origin: GLOBE Implementation Office

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