NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Science Directorate employees participate in a variety of educational outreach projects and currently direct four of them:

• S'COOL,
• MY NASA DATA,
• Surface Ozone Outreach,
• and Contrail Education.

These programs work to educate students around the world about atmospheric science research and teach fundamental science concepts.

Image to the right: Shown here are some of the S'COOL team members. S'COOL, or Students' Cloud Observations On-Line, is a project that engages school children in real science. The students provide ground observations to assist in the validation of the CERES (Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Engery System) instruments. The scientists compare the students' surface-based observations with space-based observations (from CERES) to learn more about clouds and climate. Click on the image to visit the S'COOL Web site.

The Surface Ozone Outreach and Contrail Education projects are in partnership with the GLOBE program, and S'COOL is associated with CERES. MY NASA DATA will eventually include microsets from most scientific data holdings in Atmospheric Sciences. Scientists also support the CALIPSO and GIFTS outreach efforts. Other outreach projects include programs with local schools, national groups such as the Girl Scouts, science museums, and state fairs.

Image to the left: An airplane condensation trail, or contrail. Students can collaborate with scientists through the Contrail Education Program by observing contrails in their area and reporting on the amount and type of contrails present. The results could help atmospheric scientists determine the atmospheric conditions when persistent contrails form and thus help them predict where they will form. This knowledge could possibly assist air traffic managers in planning different flight-paths or altitudes to avoid contrail formation. Click on the image to visit the Contrail Education Web site.

The Science Directorate also provides links to downloadable/printable Bookmarks.

Image to the above: MY NASA DATA teachers and team members from the second teacher workshop, which was held in July 2005. MY NASA DATA stands for "Mentoring and inquirY using NASA Data on Atmospheric and earth science for Teachers and Amateurs." The program was developed by scientists from the Science Directorate, computer programmers from the Atmospheric Sciences Data Center (ASDC), former educators, and citizen scientists, in order to make actual NASA data available for educational purposes. Click on the image to visit the MY NASA DATA Web site.