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Date: Wed, 18 Jun 97 12:16:08 EDT
From: gopher@esdim.noaa.gov (ESDIM Gopher)
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Subject: Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GlOBE)
Apparently-To: cestvr@ces.iisc.ac.in
Status: R
THE GLOBE PROGRAM
GLOBAL LEARNING AND OBSERVATIONS TO BENEFIT THE ENVIRONMENT
o GLOBE program brings children, educators, and scientist
together to monitor the worldwide environment and report
their findings to enhance global awareness and understanding
of environmental problems. The GLOBE program will:
o Enhance the environmental awareness of children throughout
the world about Earth and the impact of human activities on the
environment.
o Encourage environmental stewardship of future generations by
involving students in monitoring Earth.
o Provide significant new data for scientific investigations
of the environment.
OVERVIEW: Students throughout the world will gather data about
the environment which will be collected, interpreted and
disseminated to students, scientists and the general public using
a variety of communications technologies.
o School children will gather data about the environment
following curricula designed by scientists and educators.
o Students will routinely conduct experiments to gather data
that includes:
o weather observations (temperature, pressure, wind speed
and direction, and precipitation)
o air chemistry and quality
o water chemistry, quality, and biology
o land measurements
o biological measurements
o schools will then send data that are collected to a central
database via a combination of Internet and satellite
networks.
o Data will be collected, processed, and interpreted in a
central data processing facility at the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration.
o The program calls for the dissemination of information via
television and media to educate and inform the general
public.
o Students will receive visual feed back that will enhance the
educational value of the scientific experiments and data
collections activities.
o Scientists will use the data to further their investigations
of Earth and the impact of humans on the environment.
EXPERIMENTS: There are numerous types of experiments that
students could perform. An example of a biological experiment
is:
o Classes all over the world would be assigned a small
geographic area in which to count the number and types of
birds.
o The counts would be conducted a number of times each Spring
and Fall.
o The data would be rapidly collected and analyzed by
scientists.
o When displayed on continental and global maps, either on
television or on a computer screen, the bird census would
show the migration patterns and the long term population
changes of various species of birds. Color coding would be
used to show the change in populations over time.
o The students would be are of how their own measurements had
contributed to the understanding of scientists and other
people throughout the world.
STRUCTURE: in the United States, the GLOBE program will be
developed and implemented by the White House and several
administrative agencies, NOAA will be the host agency.
o White House: The Vice President will personally lead this
effort. The Offices on Environmental Policy and Science and
Technology Policy will serve as the primary White House
liaisons to the Vice President.
o Federal Agencies: leading agencies including the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Science
Foundation (NSF), the Department of Education (DOEd), and
the Department of State (DOS) will participate. These
agencies will design and develop curricula, materials,
materials, and necessary hardware and software.
o Each agency will have responsibility for spearheading
certain components of the program:
o NOAA: Data collection and analysis, visual feedback
to students
o NASA: Communications systems
o EPA: Coordination with existing environmental
education programs
o NSF: Identification and liaison with
nongovernmental organizations; curricula
development
o DOEd: Educational quality control; curricula
development
o DOS: International coordination of program design
and implementation
o There will be approximately 25 to 30 federal agency
personnel assigned full time to work on the program in the
early stages of its development.
PUBLIC/PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP: The GLOBE program is a cooperative
effort between public and private sectors.
o The federal government will design and develop prototype
technology, equipment and curricula materials.
o Private non-private organizations will use private
contributions to enable schools to acquire and distribute
teacher training materials, curricula, hardware, and
software.
o A federal advisory committee, composed of experts in the
fields of science and technology and environmental
education, will be established to advise the government on
the development of the GLOBE program.
INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION: The program is an international
cooperative effort initiated by the United States but developed
and implemented in concert with other countries.
o The United States government will serve as a catalyst to
initiate the program.
o Numerous countries have expressed their formal support and
interest in working with the United States to develop the
program including:
Argentina Japan
Australia Jordan
Benin Kyrgystan
Bolivia Morocco
Canada Netherlands
Costa Rica Norway
Ecuador Papua New Guinea
Germany Russia
India Senegal
Israel Sri Lanka
United Kingdom
o Numerous other countries have informally expressed support
for the program and are expected to participate in the program.
SCIENTIFIC VALUE: Currently, scientists do not have the means to
take frequent measurements on a global scale. GLOBE students
will substantially augment the current data collection abilities
of researchers.
o Scientists will design experiments along with educators to
ensure that experiments and data collected will be useful to
scientists, yet educationally valuable.
o The substantial quantity of data collected will provide
researchers with unprecedented ability to study trends in
global change and environmental degradation.
o Experts will ensure that the data are quality controlled by
integrating the large volume of students' data with existing
scientific measurements, using Global Positioning Systems
(GPS) to determine exact location and through other
mechanisms as necessary.
o Data will be designed to increase scientific understanding
in the following areas:
global change research
environmental degradation
climatic change
water and atmospheric pollution
biological degradation
EDUCATIONAL VALUE: The GLOBE program will heighten environmental,
scientific and technological literacy of students throughout the
world.
o Educators will work on the design of the curricula to ensure
that the materials can be easily used by teachers in a wide
variety of settings.
o The "hands on" experience of collecting data about the
environment will help students understand and appreciate the
environment and create the future generation of responsible
stewards of the earth.
FUNDING: The GLOBE program will be funded by the United States
government, private contributions, and other participating
countries.
o Several federal agencies have allocated funds to support the
U.S. government portion of the program:
o 1994: Agencies allocated the following funds totaling $1.2
million: NOAA ($500,000), NASA ($300,000), EPA ($200,000),
and NSF ($200,000).
o 1995: A total of approximately $13 million has been
requested: NOAA ($7 million), NASA ($5 million), EPA ($1
million); NSF (to be determined).
TIME LINE: The GLOBE program will be piloted in 1995 and will be
in full operation by 1996. The ultimate goal is to implement
GLOBE in over one million schools by 2010.