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New Girl Scout Leader’s Guide for the Think Like A Citizen Scientist Journey

New Girl Scout Leader's Guide for the Think Like A Citizen Scientist Journey


The Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Program provides students and the public worldwide with the opportunity to meaningfully contribute to our understanding of the Earth system and global environment. One part of the GLOBE Program, GLOBE Observer, is made up of an international network of citizen scientists and scientists that use an app to make and submit observations that help us learn more about our shared environment and changing climate. Anyone can participate in this activity by downloading the GLOBE Observer app and following the instructions to submit regular observations of Clouds, Mosquito Habitats, Land Cover and/or Trees.

Girl Scouts are participating in the GLOBE Observer program as part of a fantastic Girl Scout Journey, the Think Like A Citizen Scientist Journey. Girl Scout Journeys are multi-session experiences in which girls dig deeper into their interests and use the skills they gain along the way to make a difference in their community. The Think Like a Citizen Scientist Journey is designed to help girls explore their interests, gain new skills, and make a difference in their communities with citizen science.

To support Girl Scout leaders that want to engage their troops in NASA Earth science through citizen science, the NASA Science Activation program's Earth Science Education Collaborative (NESEC) has released a Girl Scout Guide for using the GLOBE Observer app. This new guide features a case study and videos that walk Girl Scout leaders through the process of doing GLOBE citizen science to complete the Think Like a Citizen Scientist Journey.

For each type of observation category in the GLOBE Observer app - Clouds, Mosquito Habitats, Land Cover, and Trees - leaders will also find presentation slides and activities that provide a variety of ways to access and present the information to their troops. In 2021, more than 650 Girl Scout troops and an additional 4,350 individual scouts participated in GLOBE through the Think Like a Citizen Scientist Journey. This new guide will provide support for more troops to join the learning and fun in the future.

Learn More:

(Science Activation NESEC Award No. NNX16AE28A)

A Girl Scout photographs the sky to contribute to NASA science through GLOBE.