GLOBE Training for Preservice and Inservice Teacher Education at Elizabeth City State University

Keywords: Teacher Inservice Training, Preservice Education, GLOBE Protocols, Atmosphere, Clouds, Surface Temperature, Air Temperature, Remote Sensing, Chi Square Test

Abstract

Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) is a K-12 environmental education program supported by National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and National Science Foundation (NSF). GLOBE is a powerful teaching tool that enables students to use hands-on, inquiry-based methods to gather and interpret scientific data. Pathways in Mathematics Education and Remote Sensing (PiMERS) represents a joint effort between Elizabeth City State University (ECSU) and NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) which held a hybrid regional teacher inservice and student preservice workshop on GLOBE Protocols at on the campus of ECSU located in Elizabeth City, North Carolina in the northeastern region of the state. A Protocol eTraining took place in January 2017 and the face-to-face workshop was held in February 2017. Over a two-week period, students and teachers learned basic GLOBE protocols and formed questions concerning each of the assigned GLOBE topics. During the face to face workshop participants collected data in the field, performed data/laboratory analyses, and compared data submitted by various schools around the world on the GLOBE website. The participants learned about remote sensing and viewed/manipulated images using image-processing software, and were introduced to the study of GLOBE Protocols as applied in northeastern North Carolina as well. Teachers and preservice students were excited about this hands-on experience in GLOBE and stated that this new learning prepared them to pass on this newly acquired knowledge. GLOBE protocols used in the workshop were recommended for incorporation into the current preservice teacher education program at ECSU.

As a result of the GLOBE training, the 2017 PiMERS Mathematics Team at ECSU established three environmental sites on the campus of ECSU. With these three established sites, the research team conducted investigations for the following GLOBE protocols: Clouds, Air Temperature, and Surface Temperature. For atmosphere investigations of air and surface thermometers; minimum, and maximum temperatures were recorded from the area located near the front of the Dixon/Patterson Hall building and the softball field on the campus of Elizabeth City State University. With the newly installed weather station loaned by LaRC, IRT207 Infrared Thermometers and digital multi-day max/min/current thermometers were used to record measurements of air and soil temperatures. For cloud investigations, the total cloud/contrail cover, sky color and visibility, cloud levels: high, mid, and low, and surface conditions were observed and recorded from the open area located near the front of Burnim Fine Arts Complex on the campus of Elizabeth City State University. All cloud observations were done visually.

The collection of environmental data from these three sites around the ECSU campus that encompass these protocols were conducted by four preservice mathematics education students and one university mathematics instructor from the General Studies Program. The team gained a better understanding of Earth System Science, its relationship to mathematics, and interrelated cycles which comprise an integrated system. The mathematics team uploaded the collected environmental data to the GLOBE website and provided environmental data that enabled scientists to help in the study the earth's system. The PiMERS Mathematics Team collected and evaluated obtained data, and created graphical models to express data quantitatively using the GLOBE website data resources.