GLOBE Program


The Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment Program is a worldwide hands-on, science and education program focusing on the environment, now active in over 120 countries worldwide. It works to promote the teaching and learning of science, enhance environmental literacy and stewardship, and promote scientific discovery. Students and teachers collect data and perform research in collaboration with scientists from numerous international agencies, and their work is made accessible through the GLOBE website.

Background

The GLOBE Program seeks to teach young students experimental skills using real experiments and equipment. Students, teachers, and scientists collaborate in a unique global learning network.
The program is housed by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, and sponsored by NASA, NOAA, and the National Science Foundation, through an inter-agency agreement signed in 1998. The U.S. Department of State supports the work of the GLOBE Program internationally ; many other organizations support the GLOBE Program in the US and around the world.

Mission

The GLOBE Program's Mission is to promote the teaching and learning of science, enhance environmental literacy and stewardship, and promote scientific discovery.
Specific goals include:
The GLOBE Program provides the opportunity for students to learn by taking scientifically valid measurements in the fields of atmosphere, hydrology, soils, land cover, and phenology, depending upon their local curricula. Students report their data through the Internet, create maps and graphs to analyze data sets, and collaborate with scientists and other GLOBE students around the world. All the GLOBE data and observations are in the public domain.

Contribution by scientists

Members of the international science community are involved in the design and implementation of the GLOBE Program. Scientists are involved in helping select GLOBE environmental measurements, developing measurement procedures, and ensuring overall quality control of data. This is important to ensure that other scientists have confidence about these results and their findings. Their continued support and direction helps to ensure that GLOBE environmental measurements make a significant contribution to the global environmental database.

Additional sources