November 2019 News Brief

November 2019 GLOBE News Brief

GLOBE Welcomes New Partnering Country: Georgia

In September 2019, NASA and Georgia’s Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sport signed an agreement to implement The GLOBE Program in Georgia. The Caucasus Environmental NGO (non-governmental organization) will be serving as the Country Coordinator.

Georgia is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia, and is located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe. It is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the south by Turkey and Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan.

“I am pleased to welcome Georgia into the family of GLOBE countries,” GLOBE Implementation Office (GIO) Director Dr. Tony Murphy said, “and to know that this partnership agreement was signed in Tbilisi, the site of the first UNESCO intergovernmental conference on environmental education in October 1977. How fitting that The GLOBE Program takes root in Tbilisi, Georgia, where environmental education first began!”

Georgia is the 122nd country to participate in The GLOBE Program.

Welcome to the community!

News

GLOBE Announces New “Community Spotlight” Feature – How Has GLOBE Impacted You? Share Your Story with the GLOBE Community!

The power behind The GLOBE Program is our passion, our purpose, and our people – YOU!

The GLOBE Program values the level of daily dedication to, and ongoing support of, the program, as well as the enduring quality of the educational, environmental, and scientific contributions of our community members.

As a way of highlighting this invaluable dedication, GLOBE would like to place a “spotlight” on you and your “GLOBE Story.” The goal is to share the stories of how working with GLOBE has impacted you – in your learning endeavors, classroom activities, scientific research, environmental observations, STEM career, and your overall journey of life.

For guidelines on submitting a Community Spotlight Feature, click here !

If you have any questions, please contact: communciations@globge.gov .

Join GLOBE’s Community Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force – Applications Due 22 November!

Graphic showing many hands, of many colors, up in the air

The GLOBE Program is inviting anyone interested in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) to apply to participate in a GLOBE DEI Task Force. If you’ve ever wondered if your unique voice is being heard – and you would like to help make GLOBE a more welcoming, diverse, equitable, and inclusive community, please consider applying.

GIO will hold a meeting in Boulder, Colorado, USA, on 18-21 February 2020; a follow-up meeting will be held during the 2020 GLOBE Annual Meeting on 11 July 2020. GIO will arrange, and pay for, travel to both Boulder and to Washington, D.C. The ultimate goal of the task force is to create a GLOBE statement and implementation plan on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Applications are due 22 November 2019. To apply click here .

Please share this opportunity with anyone in the GLOBE community

who you think may be interested.

Questions? Send an email to: meetings@globe.gov.

2019 Fall Cloud Challenge Is On (15 October-15 November): What’s Up in YOUR Sky? Submit Your Observations of Purple Sunrises or Sunsets

Picture by Jan Curtin, Vail, Arizona, USA ( https://spaceweathergallery.com/indiv_upload.php?upload_id=156718 )

Participating in the NASA GLOBE Fall Clouds Challenge: What’s Up in Your Sky? Have you noticed purple sunrises or sunsets where you live? Submit your photographs to GLOBE or GLOBE Observer!

“People around the world have been noticing purple skies at dawn and at dusk, calling it the Raikoke Sunsets (see photographs submitted ),” Marilé Colón Robles, lead for the GLOBE Clouds Team at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, USA, said in a recent blog “Fall Cloud Challenge: Observations of Volcanic Plume Causing Purple Sunsets Around the World.”

“The purple color is because of sulfurous gas that was launched into the stratosphere when the Raikoke volcano, located in Russia's Kirul Islands, erupted on June 22nd. Fine volcanic aerosols in the stratosphere, formed from this gas, scatter blue light, and when mixed with the orange colors you expect at sunrise or sunset, you get that purple hue,” Robles said.

To read the entire blog, click here .

The Fall Challenge: Participants – students, teachers, educators, and the general public – are invited to enter up to ten observations per day of clouds, dust, haze or smoke from 15 October through 15 November. Participants can enter their data using any of GLOBE’s data entry tools, including the clouds tool on the GLOBE Observer citizen science app.

GLOBE and GLOBE Observer participants with the most observations will be congratulated by NASA scientists with a video posted on the NASA GLOBE Clouds website. (Only those that enter their cloud observations using the GLOBE Online Data Entry website, GLOBE Data Entry app, or the GLOBE Observer App will be considered.)

For more information on the challenge, click here .

Read New Trees Around the GLOBE Student Research Campaign Blog:

“Retrieving and Visualizing Tree Height Data is Pretty Easy”

Photo of a path through trees in the fall

Participating in the Trees Around the GLOBE Student Research Campaign? A new blog, “Retrieving and Visualizing Tree Height Data is Pretty Easy,” written by Brian Campbell, NASA Senior Earth Science Education Specialist, offers invaluable assistance!

“Since the Trees Around the GLOBE Student Research Campaign focuses on students taking tree height measurements, then using that data, and data from others, to develop student research projects, being able to find that data easily is paramount to success,” Campbell said in the blog. “Did you know that The GLOBE Program made several tutorials to help you find your data on the GLOBE Visualization System and the Advanced Data Access Tool?”

The blog presents two tutorials, which don’t specifically discuss tree height measurement, but do serve as a guide to help you retrieve and access any type of GLOBE data that you are seeking. “Teachers, please take a look at this and show it to your students,” Campbell said.

To read the entire blog, and review the tutorials, click here .

Join the 12 November Trees Around the GLOBE Campaign Webinar “Getting Comfortable with ICESat-2 Height Data and the

Open Altimetry Online Tool”

On Tuesday, 12 November, the Trees Around the GLOBE Student Research Campaign webinar “Getting Comfortable with ICESat-2 Height Data and the Open Altimetry Online Tool” will be held at 2:00 p.m. ET (7:00 p.m. UTC).

One of the major ways students can perform student research is to compare GLOBE student and citizen science tree height data to height data from the NASA Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2). By comparing this data, students can see just how close the satellite tracks over their locations and if certain GLOBE-measured trees have been measured by ICESat-2. Amy Fitzgerrell from the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Colorado, USA, will be guiding an interactive tutorial of the Open Altimetry online tool.

To register for the webinar, and to receive emails about future webinars, click here .

To learn more about the Trees Around the GLOBE Student Research Campaign, including how to start taking measurements, how to retrieve relevant data, how to view ICESat-2 Satellite data, and how to connect to the campaign community, click here .

Join the 12 November GLOBE UHIE-Surface Temperature

Field Campaign Webinar

UHIE-Surface Temperature Field Campaign 2019-2020 webinar shareable

Join the GLOBE Urban Heat Island Effect (UHIE)-Surface Temperature Field Campaign Webinar #2 on 12 November (8:00 p.m. ET): “What Data Did You Collect in Your Neighborhood? What Does It Mean?”

The campaign is focused on looking at the impact urbanization has on the Earth’s surface temperature and how the surface temperature changes the dynamics of the Earth’s atmosphere. The campaign is now studying these impacts in seasons: October, December, and March – during which time participants will collect and submit the following data: cloud data, air temperature, and surface temperature.

This year, there is a series of webinars featuring Dr. Kevin Czajkowski (“Dr. C,” from the University of Toledo), GLOBE scientist for the campaign. Each webinar will contain the following: a scientist describing the science content; a teacher providing classroom implementation strategies, and a NASA educator showcasing a NASA resource.

To learn more about the campaign, click here .

To register for the 12 November webinar, click here .

Join the 07 November GLOBE Mission Mosquito Webinar:

“The Mosquito’s Climate Dance”

On Thursday, 07 November, at 8:00 p.m. ET, GLOBE Mission Mosquito will present a webinar, “The Mosquito’s Climate Dance.”

The webinar will be hosted by Dr. Russanne (Rusty) Low, and will highlight a GLOBE phenology activity. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), reports that mosquito vector-borne diseases are infectious diseases most sensitive to changes in climate. Find out why. (The IPCC is an intergovernmental body of the United Nations dedicated to providing the world with an objective, scientific view of climate change, its natural, political and economic impacts and risks, and possible response options.)

To register for the webinar, click here .

Water is Essential To Life! Read Recent Blog “From Satellites to Your Backyard” To Learn How to View and Interact with NASA’s

GPM Mission Data

“Water is essential to life as we know it. Too much or too little water can mean the difference between life and death. While we live on a "water planet" and almost three-quarters of our planet is covered with water, less than 2.5% of that water is actually freshwater,” Dorian Wood Janney, Science Educator for NASA’s Global Precipitation Measurement Mission (GPM), said in a recent blog.

“NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement mission is measuring how much precipitation is falling from the clouds to Earth – and it gets nearly global coverage with updates every half hour! You can see the latest Integrated Multi-satellites Retrievals (IMERG) for the past seven days here . Find out how to view and interact with IMERG data here . You can also read about the evolution of this data product in the article entitled: " From TRMM to GPM-The Evolution of NASA Precipitation Data ."

The GPM mission recently released the latest version of this data product that allows anyone to view and download precipitation data for the past two decades. A special activity has been developed for The GLOBE Program, which is designed to guide GLOBE members through comparing and contrasting their precipitation data with that of the GPM mission. (To access the activity, click here . You will receive a Certificate of Appreciation when you submit your comparison data.)

“The next time you take a sip of water or enjoy a nice fresh apple, remember that precipitation is largely to thank for our having access to freshwater resources. Find out how much precipitation GPM measured for your location, and send us your data! We are delighted to share our newest data product with you, and always appreciate the hard work you and the rest of the members of our GLOBE community are doing to ensure we better understand and protect our home planet.” Dorian Wood Janney said in the blog.

To read the entire blog, click here .

Getting Ready for the 2020 IVSS? Reports Due 10 March 2020!

GLOBE is excited to host the 2020 GLOBE International Virtual Science Symposium (IVSS)! The IVSS is a way for primary through undergraduate students from all GLOBE countries to showcase their research and hard work.

For the 2020 IVSS, GLOBE is accepting reports in multiple languages. This does, however, depend largely on the availability of judges who are fluent in those languages, so make sure to encourage people to sign up to judge . G LOBE always accepts reports in English, and will likely be able to accept reports in: Spanish, French, Arabic, and Croatian. (Please submit only one report document that includes both languages – and please separate them within two parts of the same document. Thank you!)

Timeline/Important Dates:

Reports accepted: January – 10 March 2020
Judging webinar: 30 March (time TBD)
Judging period: 30 March – 06 April
Feedback and virtual badges shared: 22 April
Drawing for stipends: 22 April

For more information on the IVSS, click here .

If you have questions about the IVSS, please send an email to: ivss@globe.gov .

GLOBE Needs Your Help Planning the Science Protocol Trainings To Be Offered During the 25th Anniversary GLOBE Annual Meeting

The 25th Anniversary Annual Meeting will be held from 12-16 July 2020 in Washington, D.C., USA. The theme of the meeting is: “Reflecting on the Past, Looking to the Future.”

GLOBE needs you to help shape the 25th Anniversary Annual Meeting. Please complete this survey by 15 December to let us know: 1) your favorite GLOBE protocol; and 2) one GLOBE protocol that you would like to learn.

Due to limited capacity, student registrations for the meeting will only be available for students selected via the GLOBE International Virtual Science Symposium (IVSS) drawings (39 students) and the U.S. Student Research Symposia (18 students).

To keep up with meeting information , click here .

If you have questions about the meeting, please contact: meetings@globe.gov .

GLOBE Trainer and Mentor Trainer Certification Process

Feedback Welcome

The GLOBE Program welcomes feedback on the new GLOBE Trainer and Mentor Trainer Certification Process, which will begin in Spring of 2020.

Over the last two years, the Education Working Group, under the leadership of Jessica Taylor, has been charged with reviewing the current trainer certification process and providing suggestions for improving it.

If you are a GLOBE member with a member account , GLOBE would like you to review the new process document and use the feedback form to provide comments. The documents/forms are available in Arabic, English, French, and Spanish.

NOTE: Only GLOBE account members who are logged in can access the form, which is available here .

The deadline for community comment is 08 November 2019.

Become a Member of a GLOBE Working Group:

Nominations Due 07 November

Graphic of people sitting around a table

Become a member of a GLOBE Working Group! The GLOBE Program is seeking nominations for the four Working Groups: Education, Evaluation, Science, and Technology. Nominations are due by 07 November 2019 – and the new Working Groups will begin in January 2020.

The purpose of the Working Groups is to enhance the role of GLOBE Country and U.S. partners, STEM professionals, and educators in shaping the future of the program and supporting the development and implementation of GLOBE worldwide.

In order to ensure regional diversity on the Working Groups, some seats are reserved for representatives from a specific region. Other seats designated "At-large" can be filled by a community member from any region.

Members are needed from the following regions for the following Working Groups:

Africa Region:

Education (1 representative, from the Africa Region)
Evaluation (1 at-large representative, open to all GLOBE regions)

Asia and Pacific Region:

Evaluation (1 at-large representative, open to all GLOBE regions)

Europe and Eurasia Region:

Evaluation (1 at large representative, open to all GLOBE regions)
Science (1 representative, from the Europe and Eurasia Region)
Technology (1 representative from the Europe and Eurasia Region)

Latin America and Caribbean Region:

Evaluation (1 at-large representative, open to all GLOBE regions)

Near East and North Africa Region:

Evaluation (1 at-large representative, open to all GLOBE regions)

North America Region:

Education (1 representative, from the North America Region)
Evaluation (1 at-large representative, open to all GLOBE regions)

If you would like to apply to be considered for a place on a Working Group, please read the “Terms of Reference” document; then complete the Working Group “Candidate Statement” and send it, along with a two-page resume, to admin@globe.gov by 07 November 2019. Please be sure that you fulfill all necessary procedures within your organization that are required to serve on the GLOBE Working Group.

If you would like to nominate someone whom you think would be a good candidate for a Working Group, please complete the Working Group Nomination Form and send it to admin@globe.gov by 07 November 2019. (Also, let the person whom you have nominated know that you are endorsing him/her, and ask him/her to send the Working Group Candidate Statement along with a two-page resume to admin@globe.gov by 07 November 2019 in order to be considered. Also, please remind your nominee that he/she has to fulfill all necessary procedures within his/her organization that are required to serve on the Working Group.)

For more information, and to read and complete the documents referred to above (Terms of Reference; Candidate Statement; and Nomination Form), click here .

Explore Weather Phenomena with GLOBE Weather!

Teachers participating in a GLOBE Weather training

GLOBE Weather, an online curriculum unit is designed to help middle school students understand weather at local, regional, and global scales, was developed to directly address the U.S.-based Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) . All teachers are encouraged to use this new and valuable resource!

The UCAR Center for Science Education (co-developer of the curriculum, and a GLOBE partner) and GIO hosted several workshops to disseminate this unit with teachers over the past two years. In September 2019, a two-day workshop to train GLOBE partners and professional development providers in this exciting new weather curriculum unit was held.

If you are an educator of middle (or early secondary) school students, you’ll want to delve in to this new weather unit. The learning component is divided into three learning sequences corresponding to different investigative phenomena:

· Learning Sequence 1: Students investigate the causes of an isolated storm.

· Learning Sequence 2: Students investigate other ways storms form in a location, specifically when a cold front moves through.

· Learning Sequence 3: Students learn how storms move on a global scale.

The culminating task involves students applying what they have learned to a winter storm that crossed the United States in February 2017. GLOBE Weather is designed for 25 class periods of approximately 50-minutes each.

To access GLOBE Weather, click here .

School Library Journal Article: “With Citizen Science Projects, Kids Assist NASA, Build Understanding of Climate Issues”

Highlights The GLOBE Program

Jeff Bouwman's students collect data in Michigan, USA. Photo courtesy of Jeff Bouwman

A recent article, “With Citizen Science Projects, Kids Assist NASA, Build Understanding of Climate Issues,” written by Kara Yorio and published in the School Library Journal (SLJ), highlights the proactive work of The GLOBE Program.

After noting that this summer was the hottest on record in the Northern Hemisphere (according to a September report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association), the article discusses the difficulty of explaining climate science to students.

“Climate change has a different impact in different locations. That makes it really tricky for teachers, right?” NASA scientist Jessica Taylor said in the article. “Being connected to your own environment and being observant about [it] is the first step to being climate literate and having interest in the concept of climate change,” Taylor, a physical scientist in the Atmospheric Composition Branch at NASA Langley Research Center, said. “You can begin to see, 'Oh what I am experiencing here or things that I emit in my location can impact somewhere else.'"

The article highlights the work of students at Shumate Middle School (Gibraltar, Michigan, USA) participating in an afterschool GLOBE Advisory Group run by science teacher Jeff Bouwman – through which students have gained insight into their immediate environment and have made the bigger connection through the NASA citizen science program. “I believe my students have a better understanding of how our planet works as a system,” Bouwman said.

In addition to their work with many GLOBE protocols, the Shumate students collected data on salinity in nearby ponds and recorded more than a thousand cloud observations using the GLOBE Observer App. “Realizing you’re helping NASA and scientists around the world understand the four spheres (land, water, living things, air) and science as a system? Kids love it.”

To read the entire article, click here .

Are You In a GLOBE Zika Education and Prevention Project Region?

Apply for a Community Action Grant!

Through support from the GLOBE Zika Education and Prevention Project, Initial Implementation Countries and collaborating countries in the three participating GLOBE regions (Africa, Asia and Pacific, and Latin America and Caribbean) are eligible to receive Community Action Grants. Community Action Grants can be used to carry out Local Mosquito Workshops (LMWs), or other community-based projects that carry out the goals of the GLOBE Zika Education and Prevention Project.

Eligible community groups can submit a Community Action Grant Proposal to their Country Coordinator, who will submit the proposal to the Regional Coordination Office Coordinator.

To review the Community Action Grant Proposal document, click here .

To review the Rubric used to determine the level of funding a community can receive, click here .

To learn more about the GLOBE Zika Education and Prevention Project, click here .

Esri Blog Discusses How to Map Mosquito Larvae Data Collected Via the GLOBE Observer App Using ArcGIS Online

A recent blog, “Mapping, analyzing, and communicating GLOBE.gov citizen science data in ArcGIS Online,” written by Dr. Joseph Kerski and published in Esri, describes key elements in mapping citizen science data collected via the GLOBE Observer App.

In the blog, Kerski notes that Esri (Environmental Systems Research Institute, an international supplier of GIS software, web GIS, and geodatabase management applications) and The GLOBE Program have been working together on initiatives and educator training for decades. “Globe was one of the first major education-focused citizen science programs, and it offers a wealth of data on soil chemistry, water quality, weather, and much more, as well as rigorously tested methods to have your students collect and contribute data, and a network of educators with which to collaborate, ”Kerski said.

With the help of explanatory screenshots focusing on mosquito larvae data collected using the GLOBE Observer App, the blog discusses ways to gather citizen science data, how to then map the data in ArcGIS Online, and how to create communications tools from your data.

“Recently, two GLOBE educators asked me to conduct a webinar for their educators and students, and I documented the highlights in this video . I have written about this topic before, documented on the GLOBE site here , and as an essay in GeoNet here , but in this recent webinar, I expanded and updated these explanations to include what I consider to include key elements of a project-based workflow: 1) obtaining the data; 2) mapping the data; 3) analyzing the data; and 4) creating communications tools from the data,” Kerski said.

“I encourage you to do even more wonderful things with spatial data, such as that from citizen science portals including GLOBE.gov, and elsewhere, to better understand the patterns, relationships, and trends, and to consider how you can contribute to the scientific community through your efforts!”

To read the entire blog, click here .

Opportunities for Teachers

(U.S. opportunities are often highlighted in the News Brief simply because we are more aware of them through our local media; however, if there are opportunities for GLOBE students and/or teachers in your region that you would like us to highlight in the coming months, please send the information to: communications@globe.gov . Thank you!)

NASA STEM Educator Webinars

The NASA STEM Educator Professional Development Collaborative (EPDC) is presenting a series of webinars open to all educators. All pre-service, K-12, and informal educators, as well as university faculty, are invited to join NASA education specialists to learn about NASA missions, activities, lesson plans, educator guides, and online resources that integrate NASA and STEM into the classroom.

An upcoming webinar, “ Explore Solar System and Beyond with STEAM and Models ,” is geared toward educators in grades 4-12. On Thursday, 07 November (6:00 p.m. ET), the NASA EPDC at Texas State University presents a one-hour webinar. Participants will explore our solar system and beyond with NASA missions; they will also investigate NASA STEAM lessons that include classification; and graphing and models to better understand and visualize our sun, planets, asteroids and other celestial objects of our solar system in this out-of-this-world webinar.

National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) Awards and Recognitions – Deadline 18 December

The annual NSTA Awards and Recognition Program, which recognizes exceptional and innovative science educators, began in 1973. The NSTA Awards and Recognition Program was created to raise awareness and to expose the outstanding work being done in the science education field. All entries must be received by 12 Noon ET on 18 December (via online submission). There are no entry fees.

For more information on the variety of awards, and how to submit entries, click here .

Opportunities for Students

Latin America/Caribbean Students: Application for OAS Rowe Fund Open – Complete Your Education in the United States!

The Rowe Fund is an educational loan program of the Organization of American States (OAS) that helps citizens from Latin America and Caribbean OAS Member States finance their studies or research in accredited universities across the United States by awarding interest-free loans of up to $15,000 dollars.

By financing a portion of their studies in the United States, the Rowe Fund helps students complete their education while fostering cultural diversity, friendship, and communication among the people of the Americas. Rowe Fund loans include:

deferred repayment while in school
no application or processing fees
applications are accepted and reviewed year-round
funding is sent directly to the student after approval
easy access to Loan Application Forms and instructions (The deadline to apply in 2019 is 15 November!)

The Rowe Fund was endowed through a bequest from Dr. Leo Stanton Rowe , who served as Director General of the Pan American Union (the precursor of the OAS), from 1920 until his death in 1946. Dr. Rowe devoted his life to furthering understanding and integration among the countries of the Americas, particularly through higher education.

For more information, click here .

U.S. NOAA Announces Scholarship Opportunities for U.S. Undergraduates –

Deadline 31 January 2020

The NOAA Educational Partnership Program with Minority Serving Institutions Undergraduate Scholarship Program Class of 2019 sit together outside NOAA headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, during scholarship orientation. Bottom, left to right: Nohemi Perales, Ayanna Butler, Jezella Peraza, Elyse Bonner, Kristyn Wilkerson Top, left to right: Sheldon Rosa, Darrielle Williams, JaNia Dunbar, Paola Santiago, Ashley Yates-Contreras, Koffi Apegnadjro (NOAA)

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is pleased to announce the availability of scholarships for U.S. undergraduate students majoring in disciplines related to oceanic and atmospheric science, research, or technology – and supportive of the purposes of NOAA’s programs and mission. Over 100 students are selected each year for participation in the Ernest F. Hollings and Educational Partnership Program (EPP) scholarship programs. These scholarships include support for two years of undergraduate study and summer internship opportunities at NOAA facilities across the country.

For information on program benefits and how to apply, visit:

Educational Partnership Program at ww.noaa.gov/eppscholarship Application Deadline: 31 January 2020
Ernest F. Hollings Undergraduate Scholarship at: www.noaa.gov/hollings Application Deadline: 31 January 2020

For more information, including eligibility requirements,

contact the Office of Education Scholarship Programs at: StudentScholarshipPrograms@noaa.gov.

Upcoming 2019 GLOBE Teacher Training Workshops

Some of the upcoming GLOBE teacher training workshops include:

Denver, Colorado, USA (Student Research Watercooler): 02 November (open to all)
Cusco, Peru (Investigación GLOBE Atmósfera: Caseta y equipos de monitoreo meteorológico): 05-06 November (restricted attendance)
Lima, Peru (Investigación GLOBE Atmósfera: Caseta y equipos de monitoreo meteorológico): 12-14 November (restricted attendance)
Tulua, Colombia (GLOBE Zika LMW): 13 November (restricted attendance)
Teruel, Colombia (GLOBE Zika LMW): 13 November (restricted attendance)
La Plata, Colombia (GLOBE Zika LMW): 14 November (restricted attendance)

No training workshops in your area? Check out GLOBE’s protocol eTraining . (In order to enter GLOBE data, GLOBE users must complete the necessary training either by attending a GLOBE workshop or by completing the required online eTraining modules. Once your training is complete, you will be ready to start entering your measurements – and will be joining a community of thousands of teachers around the world!)