News - University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus
SLJ Article Highlights GLOBE “With Citizen Science Projects, Kids Assist NASA, Build Understanding of Climate Issues”
A recent article, “With Citizen Science Projects, Kids Assist NASA, Build Understanding of Climate Issues,” written by Kara Yorio and published in the School Library Journal (SLJ), highlights the proactive work of The GLOBE Program.
After noting that this summer was the hottest on record in the Northern Hemisphere (according to a September report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association), the article discusses the difficulty of explaining climate science to students.
“Climate change has a different impact in different locations. That makes it really tricky for teachers, right?” NASA scientist Jessica Taylor said in the article. “Being connected to your own environment and being observant about [it] is the first step to being climate literate and having interest in the concept of climate change,” Taylor, a physical scientist in the Atmospheric Composition Branch at NASA Langley Research Center, said.
Taylor serves as lead for the Science Education team and works with the GLOBE and My NASA Data programs. "You can begin to see, 'Oh what I am experiencing here or things that I emit in my location can impact somewhere else.'"
The article also highlights the work of students at Shumate Middle School (Gibraltar, Michigan, USA) in an afterschool GLOBE Advisory Group – where they have gained insight into their immediate environment and have made the bigger connection through the NASA citizen science program. “I believe my students have a better understanding of how our planet works as a system,” Bouwman said.
“Realizing you’re helping NASA and scientists around the world understand the four spheres (land, water, living things, air) and science as a system? Kids love it,” Bouwman said.
To read the entire article, click here.
type: globe-newsNews origin: GLOBE Implementation Office