May 2020 United States Monthly Summary - Jennifer Bourgeault

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May 2020 United States Monthly Summary

The GLOBE Weekly Watercoolers have been well-attended. We've discussed alot of different ideas of how GLOBE can help in remote learning, if that will be part of our fall reality. Links, news and other big happenings:

The May Watercooler topic around re-tooling GLOBE during COVID-19 led to the co-creation of a couple Padlets. May 8, 2020 Watercooler Padlet (https://padlet.com/usglobecc/MayWatercooler) and May 15, 2020 Watercooler Padlet (https://padlet.com/usglobecc/dbl0871blat60mav).
There is a wonderful NASA Citizen Science Community Workshop Series happening and you can still sign up to attend: https://nasacitsci2020.gmri.org/
A data cap of 75 trees in some sites is not enough for the GLOBE Carbon Cycle protocol! Who knew?
The GLOBE DEI Task Force is working hard and will be presenting during the GLOBE Annual Meeting.

Partner News

Garry Harris, Center for Sustainable Communities, and Dr. Rusty Low participated in the UN Showcase on the Sustainable Development Goals on May 13th as part of the UN CIFAL initiative on global youth education engagement. https://www.facebook.com/events/3375518259142631/
The University of Wisconsin – Madison has updated the name of their Partnership.
From Mr. Augustine John Frkuska, Our Lady of the Lake Partnership: “The ACORN kids now using the cloud app so they can get some outside classroom activity while at home.”
From Ms. Anne Lewis, South Dakota Discovery Center: “Every summer since 2003 I have taken teachers into the field to do field studies a la a GLOBE learning expedition. Due to COVID19 this year I've had to pivot and am attempting something new. I've retooled my PD to accommodate whatever the CDC guidelines for social distancing might be as well as support teachers with lessons that work in person and online. I set up individual research investigations for teachers' field studies based on NGSS cross cutting concepts and disciplinary core ideas. The data they collect will then inform the place-based phenomena for student lessons and hopefully the students' own investigations. You can see the class website here: https://sites.google.com/sd-discovery.org/field-research-for-teachers/home.
GLOBE was featured in the Future STEM Panther issue from the University of Northern Iowa. It was the Citizen Science Issue. https://us10.campaign-archive.com/?u=27e59d58b075f52877ad37a11&id=ebbeef530b
From Haley Wicklein, NH Leitzel Center Partnership: One school in NH is holding a Virtual STEM Day. The Partnership provided the Cloud Cover Estimation and Do you know the cloud dance? videos and activities from NASA Langley Partners.
From Ms. Marcy Seavey, Iowa Academy of Science: “…I added a 5 hour + assignments distance GLOBE workshop into the middle of one of our Elementary Science Education Sections. We focused on Atmosphere (especially Clouds), the observer app, and Elementary GLOBE. I do anticipate doing more workshops like this in the future. We trained 26 new teachers.”
There were a total of four videos submitted to the STEM for All Showcase that highlighted GLOBE. The Showcase was open for comments May 5-12, 2020.
- Students connect through science at the GLOBE Symposia: https://videohall.com/p/1841 (features the 2019 Northeast & Mid-Atlantic SRS)
- GLOBE Mission EARTH: Inspiring tomorrow’s STEM Professionals https://videohall.com/p/1762 (GLOBE Mission EARTH - University of Toledo Partnership leads this effort along with WestEd/UCBerkeley, Boston University, Tennessee State University and NASA Langley)
- Connecting students to Earth SySTEM through Mixed Realities https://videohall.com/p/1705 (Institute for Earth Observations Partnership, NJ)
- A Community-based Approach to Engaging Students and Teachers https://videohall.com/p/1876 (Metropolitan State University Denver Partnership)
Dr. Michael Jabot, SUNY Fredonia, participated in a USDA Forest Service project with the Seneca Nation. The write-up is here: https://www.climatehubs.usda.gov/hubs/northeast/news/connecting-youth-changing-weather

US Regional GLOBE Student Research Symposia (SRS)

After technical difficulties and the capability to upload reports being shut down, the Community Support Team (THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! to Roller and Eslam!) created a dedicated discussion board for the SRS project reports so they could be reviewed.
There were 31 projects submitted by 12 schools from 8 different states. Almost half of those projects were submitted to the International Virtual Science Symposium earlier in the spring. This opportunity resulted in 63 students, with the support of 12 teachers, submitting projects that were posted to the GLOBE SRS Project Discussion Board and reviewed by STEM professionals. No students participated in the Peer Review process.
The SRS leadership recruited STEM professionals to review student projects through the GLOBE Partnership listserve and their own networks.
A total of 10 University of New Hampshire PhD and Masters students, along with several faculty members, participated as STEM professional reviewers. GLOBE Partners that served as part of the SRS leadership team recruited faculty from their own institutions to assist, and the USDA Forest Service recruited two of their scientists. In total, 32 STEM professionals signed up and reviewed projects. Most projects received three reviews and the few who received two had already been submitted to the IVSS and received comments through that mechanism.
Resources provided to reviewers included:
- How to Post Comments on the Discussion Board (~2 minute video)
- The Virtual Peer Review Process (a little over 4 minute video) (see presentation slides here)
- GLOBE Program Tips for Providing Student Feedback (PDF)
- Reviewer flyer (used for in-person events)
- Reviewer Feedback Form PDF (used for in-person events)
- SRS webpage on Project Review
The SRS video submitted to the STEM for All Showcase generated a healthy dialog during the comment period from 5-12 May 2020. The University of New Hampshire posted a story about the event. See the link to view the conversations around the video. Google Analytics summary is to the right. The video is now in the STEM for All Multiplex: https://multiplex.videohall.com/presentations/1841.