Great Global Investigation of Climate Pilot

14-31 March 2011

Teacher’s Resource Guide

                                                     

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Great Global Investigation of Climate Pilot 14-31 March 2011

Teachers Resource Guide

Table of Contents 

The GGIC Pilot at a Glance ............................................................................................................................ 3 

Pilot Overview ........................................................................................................................................... 3 

GGIC Scientist ............................................................................................................................................ 3 

Context and Background ........................................................................................................................... 4 

Who can Participate .................................................................................................................................. 4 

Why Participate ......................................................................................................................................... 4 

Student Learning Goals ................................................................................................................................. 5 

The Essential Principles of Climate Literacy Connections ......................................................................... 5 

What to Do and How to Do It ....................................................................................................................... 6 

Preparatory Phase ..................................................................................................................................... 6 

Getting Connected .................................................................................................................................... 7 

Gaining Access to the globeprogram.net web site ............................................................................... 7 

School Preparation for Pilot .................................................................................................................. 8 

Activity Phase ............................................................................................................................................ 9 

Introductory Activity: Write You School’s Story of Practice ................................................................. 9 

Scientist Video – Starting Friday March 4th ........................................................................................... 9 

Webinar............................................................................................................................................... 10 

Climate Classification Activity ............................................................................................................. 10 

Concluding Phase .................................................................................................................................... 11 

Wrap‐Up .............................................................................................................................................. 11 

Application of New Knowledge ........................................................................................................... 11 

Optional Extensions .................................................................................................................................... 12 

Google‐Earth Extensions: Exploring NOAA 30 Year Climate Data in Google Earth .................................... 14 

 

                                                     

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The GGIC Pilot at a Glance  Students will explore the role of precipitation and temperature in defining climate while collecting and entering temperature and precipitation data in the GLOBE database. Through the use of online tools specifically, video, webinar, discussion forums and Google-Earth, students will explore different climate classifications and the climate at their local study site.

Pilot Overview The Great Global Investigation of Climate (GGIC) pilot project provides teachers and students with a suite of new learning activities designed to increase knowledge and understanding of climate science. Additional companion tools, all contained within this website, include online collaboration tools, including structured discussion forums and live webinars; Google Earth browser-based visualizations of climate data; video podcast tutorials; and online PDF document viewers.

Classrooms participating in this GGIC pilot project collect and enter temperature and precipitation data in the GLOBE database and investigate how to classify local climate using these atmospheric data. GGIC participants also interact directly with an atmospheric scientist via webinars and discussion forums. Discussion forums allow each classroom to post the results of their investigations and activities as well as discuss their results and ideas with other classrooms.

In the course of the GGIC students, classrooms, and teachers, collaborate with each other and with the project scientist to investigate how:

precipitation and temperature data can be used to characterize climate; local climate can be classified; and local studies of weather can lead to the study of climate.

We encourage you to not only participate in this pilot, but to help us develop these new tools and opportunities to meet your needs. Share your suggestions, investigations and ideas on the online discussion board.

GGIC Scientist Dr. Todd Ellis, earned his M.S. and Ph.D. at Colorado State University in 2005 and 2008. At CSU he studied the effects on precipitation of changes in clouds and atmospheric radiative transfer, i.e., climate change by global warming. He continues his study of precipitation while working as the Education and Public Outreach lead for the NASA CloudSat mission. Dr. Ellis will be conducting the Live Webinar and will be answering your questions on the Discussion Forum. If you have questions or comments for Dr. Ellis, visit the GGIC Discussion Forum entitled Investigating Weather and Climate Data Discussion Forum: located on the Meet our Scientist Page.

                                                     

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Context and Background

This Great Global Investigation of Climate (GGIC) Teachers Resource Guide provides students and teachers with additional resources to explore climate as well as the information needed to fully participate in the GGIC learning activities, webinar, and discussion forums. The activities in this pilot investigation focus on data, understanding data, the importance of data to understanding climate and understanding the difference between weather and climate. Through this pilot, we aim to learn more about what learning activities you, the teachers, would like to see related to climate. We are interested in your feedback on these learning activities. As you progress through the sequence of GGIC activities please make note of any ideas that you have to help improve the experience for future teachers and students.  

Who can Participate GLOBE Schools will need to have access to the following to participate in this pilot event

Instrument shelter with thermometer Rain Gauge and/or snow board Computer access to enter data Technology capabilities – computer with broadband internet access, working microphone

and ability to project the video in the classroom via screen or Smartboard.

Why Participate  

Participating schools will have an opportunity to help develop new collaboration tools and climate-related activities by working directly with a climate scientist. Students will:

Conduct hands-on data exploration: Students will improve data literacy and analysis skills in the context of weather and climate

Compare data: Compare data and classification of your local climate with other schools around the world

Develop international collaboration: Develop research collaborations with schools around the world in an interactive online environment

Interact with scientist: Ask questions and interact with a climate scientist through a webinar and discussion forums.

                                                     

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Student Learning Goals   Students will learn the importance of studying temperature and precipitation as climate

variables through a scientist video presentation Students will communicate with research scientists via a webinar about the scaling of

data from weather to climate in studies of local environments Students will identify their climate classification using the GLOBE Köppen-Geiger

classification system activity Students will be introduced to the use of 30 year temperature and precipitation data sets

to gain a better understanding of their local climate Students will reinforce their learning through participation in online forums with

scientists and other schools centered on their questions about the study of climate and climate change impacts in their local environments  

The Essential Principles of Climate Literacy Connections

1 : The Sun is the primary source of energy for Earth 's climate system. While sunlight energizes the Earth's climate system, seasonal cycles, orbital cycles and other variables effect the energy balance on the Earth' surface. Learn more about teaching about the Sun’s energy http://cleanet.org/clean/literacy/principle_1.html

2 : Climate is regulated by complex interactions among components of the Earth system. The natural Greenhouse Effect, regional geography, the oceans, the atmosphere and biota all exert controls over parts of the climate system. Feedbacks between different parts of the earth system can either amplify or mitigate changes in the climate. Learn more about teaching the components of climate system http://cleanet.org/clean/literacy/principle_2.html

4 : Climate varies over space and time through both natural and man-made processes. While weather is variable on short time scales, the Earth's overall climate also varies over longer time intervals. Natural processes that influence changes in climate do not account for recent increases of greenhouse gases, temperatures and sea level rise. Learn more about teaching climate variability http://cleanet.org/clean/literacy/principle_4.html

5: Our understanding of the climate system is improved through observations, theoretical studies, and modeling. Changes in the climate system are recorded by observations, direct measurements, and the geologic record. Computer models can be used to reconstruct past climates, project future climate scenarios, and guide decisions. Learn more about teaching with this principle http://cleanet.org/clean/literacy/principle_5.html

                                                     

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What to Do and How to Do It 

For GLOBE students, collaboration is viewed as the “learning experience”. Facilitation of the learning experience means guiding the interplay between three fields of knowledge:

1. What the students know 2. What is known (public knowledge) 3. New knowledge

GLOBE online learning and collaboration forms around data and the discovery that although data may be neutral there is knowledge in data, and that students can contribute to new knowledge and understanding through their data.

Preparatory Phase

Recommended Completion Date: Monday 14 March 2011

Below are ways you can make sure both you and your students are prepared for participation in the GGIC.

Make sure that your atmospheric temperature and precipitation data collection instruments are all calibrated and operating properly according to GLOBE protocols. Most importantly, make sure you are consistently collecting and reporting these data.

o Access to GLOBE Protocols & Instrument Calibration Instructions

Help students determine what they already know about your local weather and climate by examining atmospheric data that your school has been collecting up to this point in time. This process will help students develop a basic sense of what they know about data collection, data interpretation, weather and climate, and prepare them for meaningful interaction with scientists and other participants throughout the whole GGIC.

o Access the GLOBE data visualization system to plot your atmosphere data. Alternatively, you can also download your data and plot it using a spreadsheet program.

o After examining your data, make a list of statements about the data as well as what the data tell you about weather and climate.

o Formulate questions about your data.

                                                     

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Let your school and local community know about your investigation of weather and climate and participation in the Great Global Investigation of Climate. Suggestions include: creating a poster for your school or classroom bulletin board; inviting a local meteorologist or climate scientist to visit your class to help you interpret your data; notifying your local newspaper; etc.  

Getting Connected

The GGIC web site (http://globeprogram.net/drupal_dev/ggic) provides all of the information, resources, and tools needed to participate in and complete the full cycle of GGIC learning activities. Each stage of the GGIC has a corresponding web page that can be reached from the top level navigation menu. This navigation menu matches the order in which each part of the GGIC should be completed, beginning with Roll Call and ending at Wrap Up. Directions for completing each stage of the GGIC can be found on these web pages, as well as in this GGIC Teacher Resource Guide.   

Gaining Access to the globeprogram.net web site Recommended Starting Date: Monday 7 March 2011

You can join the globeprogram.net web site by registering at: http://globeprogram.net

There are two ways you can sign up.

A. Log in with your email address from an existing email account. If you already have an email account with any of the following, you can use the same email address and password for use on the globeprogram.net site.

Accounts supported:

Google-gmail Yahoo email AOL email MyOpenID

OpenID LiveJournal Wordpress Blogger

Verisign ClaimID ClickPass Google Profile

Create a new account with an OpenID provider.

1. Select your account provider icon (if not available select the first icon with the GLOBE Logo)

2. Login with your account provider (e.g. Google, Yahoo, etc) 3. Complete the registration form (fields with * are required) 4. Select a username and provide an email address. 5. Select your group (GGIC) 6. Select your role (GLOBE teacher)

                                                     

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7. Enter your personal information (as seen in Image 1) Enter the name of your School in the First Name field Enter Teacher’s name in the Last Name field Select the appropriate Gender in the Gender field

8. Answer GLOBE Participation questions (required) 9. Enter location information 10. Type the code shown in the image 11. To complete registration click Create new account

B. Create a unique Log in without using an existing email account. 1. Select the GLOBE Professional Development Icon (first icon with the GLOBE Logo) 2. Select Create new account 3. Complete the registration form (fields with * are required) 4. Select a username and provide an email address. 5. Select your group (GGIC) 6. Select your role (GLOBE teacher) 7. Enter your personal information (as seen in Image 1)

Enter the name of your School in the First Name field Enter Teacher’s name in the Last Name field Select the appropriate Gender in the Gender field

8. Answer GLOBE Participation questions (required) 9. Enter location information 10. Type the code shown in the image 11. To complete registration click Create new account

After you create your account, it will be forwarded to the administrator for approval. You will receive an approval message via email and instructions on how to log in.

School Preparation for Pilot Recommended Starting Date: Monday 7 March 2011

To better participate in the GGIC determine a class purpose for participation. The following questions can be used for facilitating this class discussion.

1. What do we want to know at the end of this event? 2. Who do we want to engage with during this event? 3. Who do we want to tell about what we learned in this event?

Next, determine what your students already know by examining your school data.

1. Upload school data and visualize school data 2. Make a list of statements about the data. 3. Formulate questions about your data 4. Arrange for data collection and entry for March

( Image 1 )

                                                     

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Activity Phase

Introductory Activity: Write You School’s Story of Practice Recommended Completion Date: Monday 14 March 2011

Establish a social presence for your students by completing the Introductory Activity found on the Roll Call Page. Please complete and post your narrative by 14 March 2011.

1) Write a short narrative (4-7 statements) entitled “Our Story of Practice.” Discuss how, where, and when you collect data, your data entry practices, as well as how you use your data to find meaning. In the title of your narrative replace “Our” with the name of your school (e.g. Blue Sky Middle School Story of Practice).

2) Post you school’s “Story of Practice” as a in the Our Story of Practice Discussion Forum.

Scientist Video – Starting Friday March 4th Recommended Viewing Dates: 14-21 March 2011

GGIC scientist Dr. Todd Ellis, earned his M.S. and Ph.D. at Colorado State University (CSU) in 2005 and 2008. While at CSU he studied the effects on precipitation of changes in clouds and atmospheric radiative transfer, i.e., climate change by global warming. He continues his investigation of precipitation while working as the Education and Public Outreach lead for the NASA CloudSat mission. Dr. Ellis is currently an atmospheric scientist at the State University of New York College at Oneonta.

1) Watch Dr. Todd Ellis' 8-minute video podcast introducing weather and climate research. Stream this video online on the Meet Our Scientist Page of the globeprogram.net site, or download the mp4 video and watch it using your preferred movie viewer (e.g. QuickTime, Real Player, etc.).

In this video podcast, Dr. Ellis provides an overview of temperature and precipitation measurements and suggests an investigation to demonstrate the value of using standardized protocols for data collection.

2) After viewing the video podcast and conducting the suggested investigation navigate to the Investigating Weather and Climate Discussion Forum located on the Meet Our Scientist GGIC Page and make a post of your most significant finding. Dr. Ellis will then compile and post a top 20 list of findings from the GGIC Schools participating around the world. You can also use this discussion forum to ask Dr. Ellis questions and present your ideas.

3) Continue collecting temperature and precipitation data on a daily basis, and upload you data to the GLOBE database.

                                                     

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Webinar  LIVE Webinar Date: Tuesday 22 March 2011

Join the GGIC Community as we host two LIVE webinars that will allow GLOBE students around the world to communicate directly with a climate scientist. Conducted by Event Scientist Dr. Todd Ellis, the webinar will include a discussion of how to view and access 30 year climate data as well as the importance of classifying your local climate.

Tune into the Webinar of your choice or view a recording of either webinar at your convenience. To gain access to the GGIC Webinars visit the Town Hall Page of the globeprogram.net site.

Eastern Hemisphere – Tuesday March 22nd :10:00 – 10:30 GMT (06:00 – 06:30 EDT-US)

Western Hemisphere – Tuesday March 22nd :18:00 – 18:30 GMT (14:00 – 14:30 EDT-US)

At the competition of the webinar you may ask questions of Dr. Ellis or share ideas about topics discussed during the webinar at the Investigating Weather and Climate Discussion Forum located on the Town Hall GGIC Page.

Climate Classification Activity  Recommended Starting Date: Wednesday 23 March 2011

In this stage of the GGIC you have the opportunity to use NOAA 30 year precipitation and temperature data for selected cities around the world to classify your local climate according to the Köppen-Geiger Climate Classification system.

1) Download the Climate Classification Activity Lesson Plan and Student Handouts. This activity will guide you through the process of classifying your climate.

2) Use the Google Earth viewer located on the Our Climate Page of the globeprogram.net site to locate city data near your school. You can download the 30 year data in both Excel and CSV formats. For more instructions refer to Viewing NOAA 30-Year Climate Data in Google Earth User Guide There are also user guides available for Google Earth and the Köppen-Geiger Classification System at the bottom of the Our Climate Page.

3) Complete the Climate Classification activity.

4) Post your findings or any questions to the Our Climate Classification Discussion Forum located on the Our Climate GGIC Page.

5) Identify another school in a climate zone of interest to you and start an online dialogue. Using the Google viewer located on the Our Climate Page, turn on the Köppen-Geiger Classification kml and Show Great Global Investigation of Climate Participating Schools kml by clicking on the boxes (as shown on pages 14 and 15 below). Locate and select a school in a climate of interest to you.

                                                     

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6) Navigate to the Our Climate Classification Discussion Forum, located on the Our Climate GGIC Page, and begin a conversation with that school by posting a new response to that school’s discussion forum post. Discussion topics might focus on any of these subjects:

Questions that you have about their weather, climate, and climate classification. Characteristics of the climate zone of your school in comparison to the other school. Ideas that might have for engaging in joint, collaborative research of your local study

sites.

Concluding Phase

Wrap­Up Recommended Starting Date: Monday 28 March 2 2011

Students synthesize their knowledge by posting questions to Dr. Ellis on the Investigating Weather and Climate Discussion Forum located on the Roll Call GGIC Page.

How changes in temperature and precipitation effect your local environment?

How can your class study climate and monitor climate change at your local site?

Application of New Knowledge Recommended Starting Date: Monday 28 March 2 2011

1) Reflect on how you can ensure that your data collection practices can measure climate and climate change in local environment.

2) Based upon these reflections, amend “Stories of Practice”: Return to your school’s story of practice on the in the Our Story of Practice Discussion Forum located on the Roll Call GGIC Page. Add a new comment below your original Story of Practice. Focus on how and why your school's practice of data collection, data entry, and approach to analyzing data might change as a result of new awareness and knowledge of atmospheric data as a source of information about weather and climate.

 

   

                                                     

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Optional Extensions We invite all schools participating in the GGIC Pilot to join students from around the world in World Water Day Activities. More information can be found on the GGIC Page entitled Wrap up

The 2011 United Nation’s World Water Day Campaign aims to present the opportunity for teachers and students to participate in a global effort to raise the awareness of water quality issues on a global scale. The United Nation’s World Water Day Campaign aims to educate students about responding to the Urban Challenge and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources.

The objective of World Water Day 2011 is to focus international attention on the impact of rapid urban population growth, industrialization and uncertainties caused by climate change, conflicts and natural disasters on urban water systems. This year theme aims to spotlight and encourage governments, organizations, communities, and individuals to actively engage in addressing the defy of urban water management.

People all over the world are organizing events in celebration of World Water Day 2011. Over 80 events have now been posted in the World Water Day Events Map and more are coming in every day. To join or add your own event view the Worldwide Events Map at: http://www.unwater.org/worldwaterday/events

Add your community photo to the official World Water Day Photostream. The photo stream now contains over 350 photos from cities across the globe. Do you have any Water for the Cities photos? If so you could add them to World Water Day Photostream at: http://www.flickr.com/groups/worldwaterday2011/pool/map?mode=group

                                                     

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World Water Day Links

United Nations WWD Site http://www.unwater.org/worldwaterday/index.html International Water and Sanitation Centre http://www.irc.nl/ IRC WWD Site http://www.worldwaterday.org/ Water for Life http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/ 

    

                                                     

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Google­Earth Extensions: Exploring NOAA 30 Year Climate Data in Google Earth  To provide a unique interactive experience for this Pilot a Google Earth Plug-In has been provided as an access to long term climate data and a map of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification system. Users can view both the classification system map as well as the long term climate data in the plug-in or you can choose to download the files to be used in Google Earth.

Google-Earth is a powerful learning tool that can increase students understanding of the Earth System, 21st Century Skills, as well as global awareness. By accessing the Climate Data tab on the globeprogram.net webpage, you can access and display all of the data used for this pilot in a Google Earth plug-In.

Using the NOAA 30 Year Temperature and Precipitation Climate Data layer, you and your students can explore the relationships between location, latitude, elevation and temperature and precipitation by selecting sample locations from around the world. User guides are provided under the plug-In on the visualization page.

Getting Started: When users access the Our Climate Page on the globeprogram.net web site, you will notice a Google Earth plug-In. If you are having trouble viewing the plug-In (Image 1) follow the links in the browser to download the appropriate files to view the plug-In.

(Image 1) (Image 2) Displaying Data: To display City Data, select the city by clicking on it on the map display. To download the city data, select the format, Excel or CSV, below the graph. (Image 2) To enlarge the graph in a new browser window tab, simply Click on the graph. To return to the map display close the window tab or select the window tab labeled Our Climate / GLOBE Professional Development.

                                                     

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(Image 3) (Image 4)

Displaying the Köppen-Geiger climate classification map: An additional teaching tool that displays the Köppen-Geiger climate classification map can be turned on by selecting the check box at the bottom left of the Google Earth plug-In (Image 3). Use the transparent legend at the top left of the screen to identify climate classifications of a location or simply click on a location to display the climate classification description. (Image 4) User guides for using the Köppen-Geiger climate classification system can be found under the plug-In on the visualization page.

(Image 5) (Image 6)

Displaying Schools participating in the Great Global Investigation of Climate: Another resource that should be helpful in spurring collaboration between GLOBE schools around the world, the Participating Schools layer, can be turned on by selecting the check box at the bottom right of the Google Earth plug-In (Image 5). Schools will be represented by light blue GLOBE Logos. Click on the GLOBE Logo to find additional school information such as city, country, teacher and grade level. (Image 6)