education

To get young students reading about science, NASA is trying something different. Instead of a press release or a scientific paper, the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission has launched a Japanese manga-style comic book. GPM, a satellite collaboration between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, provides global estimates of rain and snow every three hours using advanced instruments. In spring 2013, a GPM Anime Challenge was held for artists from around the world aged 13 years and up to develop an anime-themed character for teaching students about the GPM mission. By...

Every morning at seven, Andrew Welch wakes up, cooks breakfast and checks the rain gauge sitting on a five-foot post in his backyard. He writes down the measurement, sends his kid off to school and then heads out to his workplace as a structural engineer. Welch is a citizen scientist. Around the world, hundreds of citizen scientists like him are collecting precipitation measurements from the ground that are useful for NASA’s Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission. CoCoRaHS volunteers stand with Dr. Walt Petersen, far left, Dr. Jackson Tan, third from right, and Dr. Tiffany Moisan, far...

This spring, students worldwide are invited to grab rain gauges and learn how scientists use ground measurements to validate satellite precipitation data. NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement, or GPM, mission is partnering with the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) program to conduct a field campaign where students will measure rain and snow in their hometowns from Feb. 1 through mid-April 2015 and then analyze the data. A webinar for teachers to learn more about the campaign and how to participate is scheduled for Jan. 21, 2015. GLOBE is a worldwide hands...

Summer intern Jorel Torres, a graduate student from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, talks about snow research and the value of hard work, persistence, and passion. Snow awes and annoys, brings nostalgia or abhorrence. For Jorel Torres, snow makes him curious—so much that he studies it. For the past ten weeks, Torres compared various ground measurements of snow to data from NASA’s Global Precipitation Measurement mission as an intern at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. The snow, Torres said, is important to the Earth’s hydrological cycle as it is more unpredictable, thus...

NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement, or GPM, mission recently completed a competitive process to select 25 teachers from around the world for its Master Teacher Program. The chosen educators will develop educational resources based on GPM's data – with a focus on the water cycle and related applications – to share with their students and school communities. "Our goal is to make teachers aware of the wealth of resources offered through NASA education and outreach. We also will receive feedback on how their students received the material," said Dorian Janney, education specialist and manager...

By Ellen Gray , NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Original www.nasa.gov Press Release (published 2/6/13) NASA and the Community, Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS) run by Colorado State University, Fort Collins, invite the public to participate in a free webinar to promote citizen science that involves rain and snow measurements across the United States. CoCoRaHS rain gauge after a storm. Image Credit: Henry Reges / CoCoRaHS HQ CoCoRaHS is a citizen scientist network with more than 16,000 volunteers nationwide that encourages volunteers of all ages to record and monitor...