In the Fall of 2023, The GLOBE Implementation Office awarded Fairmont State University and the NASA IV&V's Education Resource Center in Fairmont, WV a grant funding the Atmosphere data protocol training to prepare GLOBE teachers to become mentors for GLOBE science fair projects both at the county/state level as well as during the GLOBE International Virtual Science Symposium.
Culminating from this project, two teams of GLOBE students and their GLOBE teachers have shared their research during the 2024 GLOBE International Virtual Science Symposium.
The "Clouds and Ground Temps" project conducted by Johnson Elementary in Bridgeport, WV earned the Problem Solver, Collaborator, and Impact Badges. In addition to their research using Infrared thermometers and the GLOBE Clouds Observer App, the school will expand its efforts in citizen science and atmospheric research by maintaining an automated weather station at sites in their county. Data on air temperature, precipitation, barometric pressure, and relative humidity will be available both statewide and globally by citizen scientists and students interested in accessing the information for science fair projects.
Parkersburg High School in Parkersburg, WV investigated soils in West Virginia and analyzed them against soil data from Florida, Utah, and New Jersey. Their project is titled "The Dirty Facts of Soil". In addition to presenting at GLOBE's international fair, the team advanced to the state level of the science fair. As a collaborating school, the team will also house an automated weather station for schools across the state to use their weather data and future science fair projects.
"We'd like to thank Jami Moss (Parkersburg) and Taya Cline (Bridgeport) for not only completing training at Fairmont State University but also partnering with the NASA IV&V Education Resource Center and the West Virginia Space Grant Consortium to continue to operate fixed, automated weather stations in their communities," said Josh Revels. "This enables additional teachers to be trained at Fairmont State University this summer and borrow a portable, automated weather station from NASA to compare their collected data with the atmospheric study sites in both central and western West Virginia. Not only will the GLOBE database contain this additional data from West Virginia, but all West Virginia students may access this data to use for science fair projects in future years."
To get involved with the WV Atmosphere Focus Group and to start utilizing the GLOBE Atmosphere kit, contact josh.revels@fairmontstate.edu
