In Search of GLOBE Data

Gary Randolph

The GLOBE Program

This activity is part of the On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Teaching Activities collection (view details)

This activity was selected for the On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Teaching Collection

Resources in this top level collection a) must have scored Exemplary or Very Good in all five review categories, and must also rate as "Exemplary" in at least three of the five categories. The five categories included in the peer review process are

Scientific Accuracy
Alignment of Learning Goals, Activities, and Assessments
Pedagogic Effectiveness
Robustness (usability and dependability of all components)
Completeness of the ActivitySheet web page

For more information about the peer review process itself, please see https://serc.carleton.edu/teachearth/activity_review.html.

Initial Publication Date: February 11, 2008 | Reviewed: November 2, 2013 (see revision history: 2 events)

Summary

Students use on-line GLOBE search tools to locate and display data from schools and use the data to answer questions regarding weather and climate. Answer key provided.

Physical, Seasonal patterns, Measurements, Regional climates | Middle (6-8), High School (9-12)

Expand for more detail and links to related resources

Share your modifications and improvements to this activity through the Community Contribution Tool »

Context

Audience

Middle school/High school as well as Methods classes

Skills and concepts that students must have mastered

Students should be able to read simple graphs and tables and capable of making simple data comparisons; students should know basic weather and seasonal-related phenomena; and are able to create, interpret, and make predictions from charts, diagrams, and graphs based on information provided.

How the activity is situated in the course

Introductory activity in atmospheric data interpretation; good introduction into using the GLOBE mapping and graphing tools.

Goals

Content/concepts goals for this activity

Encourage the use of on-line GLOBE visualization tools.
Understand the value of GLOBE data in science and technology instruction.

Higher order thinking skills goals for this activity

Analysis and interpretation of data visualizations; Comparison of environmental data; interpretation of data and visualizations; drawing conclusions

Other skills goals for this activity

Description of the activity/assignment

"In Search of GLOBE Data" contains two self-paced projects on using the graphing and mapping tools available on the GLOBE Web site (www.globe.gov (more info) ). These sequential how-to guides on searching for schools with usable data include questions inquiring into what the user sees or thinks about the data presented. These questions are intended to stimulate the thinking process. An answer sheet has been provided to assist the facilitator of this activity. These student worksheets are followed by an advanced search for GLOBE data. This is a step-by-step, or click-by-click, how-to guide to help expand the list of tools when searching for GLOBE data. An Advanced Search is also included; however there are no questions associated with this part of the activity. If the user proceeds directly from the Student Worksheets they may be able to construct their own questions when visualizing the data using these advanced tools.

Determining whether students have met the goals

An answer sheet is provided which includes a number of possible answers for the open questions on the Student Worksheets. These answers are by no means the only possible answers but rather some possible answers. If the student does not provide answers to these questions, the instructor can use the answers provided here to help the student begin to see what story the data can tell. The instructor should also be able to gauge understanding of concepts based on answers provided.

More information about assessment tools and techniques.