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L ESSON ONE: THINK GLOBALLY, ACTINCREMENTALLY. A short-term project isprobably best done with a small, local audience.

For a longer-term, extensive project, start slowly, in-corporate teacher feedback, and allow time for yourproject to become known and appreciated.

The Students’ Cloud Observations On-Line(S’COOL) Project was initiated in late 1996, before thelaunch of the three low Earth orbit satellites that nowcarry the Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy Sys-tem (CERES) instruments. From the beginning,S’COOL was developed with input from teachers.Indeed, the idea for this project arose in a conversa-tion between the first author and a sixth-grade scienceteacher. She was seeking a simple, safe, and cheap wayto connect her students’ in-class experiments to theNational Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA). CERES, which was designed to monitor theearth radiation budget and how it is impacted by

cloud properties (Wielicki et al. 1996), needed to vali-date cloud retrievals on a global basis. Her class servedas the first test site for S’COOL, confirming that stu-dents would be interested in the project. The scopeof the S’COOL project was then expanded over theyear leading up to the launch of the first CERES in-strument [on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission(TRMM) satellite on Thanksgiving Day, 1997, fromTanegashima, Japan]. Table 1 summarizes the devel-opment phases of S’COOL. After each phase, teachercomments were solicited and used to improve theproject. Specific lessons learned are included inTable 1. S’COOL was declared operational in April1998. It now involves the part-time efforts of two sci-entists, two Web and database specialists, and a full-time former classroom teacher (part of the team sinceOctober 1997). A part-time teacher consultant wasadded in 2000 to focus on interaction with theSpanish-speaking audience. (Bilingual team memberscover French and German translation needs.) In 2001,a part-time administrative assistant was added to keepup with the growing S’COOL community.

LESSON TWO: KEEP IT SIMPLE. For teachers:Teachers have many demands on their time, so keep-ing outreach as simple and flexible as possible isimperative.

For students: What may seem trivial to scientistscan be fascinating new knowledge to a young student.

To participate, interested teachers simply register.S’COOL needs a record of the location of each schoolin order to match their observations with the satel-

THE CERES S’COOL PROJECTBY LIN H. CHAMBERS, DAVID F. YOUNG, P. KAY COSTULIS, PAULINE T. DETWEILER, JOYCE D. FISCHER,

ROBERTO SEPULVEDA, DOUGLAS B. STODDARD, AND AMANDA FALCONE

The lessons learned during the development and operation of a NASA outreach program

can benefit other educational efforts linked to scientific projects.

AFFILIATIONS: CHAMBERS, YOUNG, AND COSTULIS—Radiation andAerosols Branch, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton,Virginia; DETWEILER, FISCHER, SEPULVEDA, AND STODDARD—ScienceApplications International Corporation, Hampton, Virginia;FALCONE—Trinity University, San Antonio, TexasCORRESPONDING AUTHOR: Lin H. Chambers, Radiation andAerosols Branch, NASA Langley Research Center, 21Langley Blvd.,MS 420, Hampton, VA 23681-2199E-mail: 1.h.chambers@larc.nasa.govDOI: 10.1175/BAMS-84-6-759

In final form 22 November 2002

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lite. Each registered teacher receives a packet of in-formation, including a colorful cloud identificationposter (Fig. 1). Upon registration, teachers are senttheir first overpass schedule, telling them what timethe satellite will pass over their school each day.Schedules are projected a maximum of two monthsinto the future, since satellite orbit adjustments oc-cur. Further schedules can be requested online athttp://scool.larc.nasa.gov.

From the schedule, teachers select an overpass thatfits their class situation. Students then go outsidewithin 15 min of the satellite’s passage to observe andrecord cloud and surface properties on a 1-page re-port form (Fig. 1). For an experienced class, this pro-

cess takes only 5–10 min. Overpass schedules do notalways mesh with school schedules, but solutions canbe worked out. For example, a high school teacherreported the following: “Our overpass times are al-ways while they are in classes other than science. Wedesigned special S’COOL hall passes, and my col-leagues who teach other disciplines have been verysupportive and allow the students to leave class for fiveminutes to go outside and take their readings.”

The observation is sent to NASA either by access-ing an online form, or by sending an e-mail, a fax, oreven a hard copy (a ground rule for S’COOL is thatInternet access is not required, enabling us to reachstudents without computers). The S’COOL ground

13–17 Jan 1997 Postal/ 1 Peasley, MS 6th Ground 5 Importance of clear-skyinterface Gloucester, VA Satellite 4 observations. Need forscientist a consistent cloud

visit chart.

11–17 Mar 1997 E-mail 1 Big Timber Grade 6th Ground 5 Scientist visit is notinterface/ school, Big Timber Satellite 0 necessary. Lots of

remote site MT multilayer clouds.

17–21 Mar 1997 Web 1 Poquoson 4th Ground 5 Potential of theinterface Elementary Satellite 4 Internet.

Poquoson, VA

28 Apr–2 May 1997 National 9 AZ, GA, MT, NM 1–12 Ground 41 System works forTest NY, PA, SD, VA (2) Satellite 17 distributed sites

and multiple grades.

Jul 1997 International 0 No successful Ground 0 Need time to maketest contacts in Southern Satellite 0 connections outside

Hemisphere United States.

20–24 Oct 1997 Global test/ 26 AR (2), FL, IL, ME, 1–Univ. Ground 119 Need to be flexibledraft poster MI (3), NM, NY, SC, (Educ.) Satellite 12 for teacher schedules.

and brochure VA (3), France (7),Switzerland (4),Sweden

9–13 Feb 1998 TRMM 31 AK, CO, DE, FL, IL, 1–Univ. Ground 168 Teachers usesatellite test MI (2), NY (3), OH, (Educ.) Satellite 29 S’COOL even

OR (2), PA, TX (3), outside test week

VA (3), France (6), (Nov–19 Feb 1998)Norway, Sweden,Switerland (3)

TABLE 1. The development phase of S’COOL.

Participants

Dates Test No. Location Grade Observations* Lessons learned

*Before TRMM launch, NOAA AVHRR, GOES, and Meteosat data were used.

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observations are stored in a database at the NASALangley Atmospheric Sciences Data Center (ASDC;online at http://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov). ASDC is re-sponsible for processing and archiving CERES dataalong with many other atmospheric datasets. Duringoperational processing, CERES data corresponding toS’COOL observations are extracted and placed in theS’COOL satellite database. For the TRMM satellite,data are only available between about 35°N and 35°Slatitude. In December 1999, the launch of two CERESinstruments on the Terra spacecraft provided a dailymorning overpass of the entire globe. The Aqualaunch, with two more CERES instruments and a dailyafternoon overpass, was on 4 May 2002.

Figure 2 shows the history of participants andground and satellite observations in the S’COOL da-tabase. Within a month of sending their first obser-vation (and for each new school year), a class receivesa “S’COOL Observer” decal (Fig. 1) for each student.Teachers can also print certificates for each studentfrom the Web site to recognize their progress, whichcan be substantial. For example, one teacher reported“. . . my first graders got very good at identifying thecloud types. I was impressed with their knowledge atsuch a young age.”

LESSON THREE: THE INTERNET ADVAN-TAGE. The Internet is invaluable to facilitate com-munication with participants and to share informa-tion among them. There is also an increasing amountof useful information on the Web, which can be usedfor background and supplementary information.

The S’COOL ground and satellite databases areavailable via a public Web interface, for use by teach-

ers in educational applications (suchas graphing, mapping, and compar-ing). Lesson plans describing data-use projects are available. Figure 3shows a sample query result whenground and satellite data correspond.From this display that data can also bedownloaded into spreadsheets foranalysis.

From the beginning, S’COOL ob-servations have been a useful comple-ment to the satellite information.The very first S’COOL observationoccurred on a beautifully clear Janu-ary day. Reports from cloud observ-ers on clear days may seem dull butare very important. Determinationof a completely clear sky from thesatellite can be a challenge in certain

circumstances, given the inhomogeneous backgroundof the earth’s surface, but there is high confidence inthe accuracy of students’ report of clear sky. Otherchallenges to the satellite cloud retrieval algorithm in-clude clouds over snow, subpixel-scale clouds, andvery thin clouds—none of which pose problems forobservers on the ground. When multiple cloud lay-ers are present, the surface observation gives an ad-ditional data point from the bottom, while the satel-lite views the cloud top.

FIG. 1. A variety of materials have been developed for S’COOL overthe years. All the items pictured are now available on the Internet(http://scool.larc.nasa.gov).

FIG. 2. Growth of S’COOL: The solid line denotes thenumber of participants, in hundreds. The dashed curveshows the number of S’COOL ground observations, inthousands. Note the plateau each summer, associatedwith summer vacation in the Northern Hemisphere.The dotted curve shows the number of matching sat-ellite data, in tens. Only satellite data through 1998 havebeen processed so far.

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Instrument problems and data delays have slowedthe production of satellite data, so that timely com-parison of ground and satellite results has been amajor challenge. Nonetheless, a statistical compari-son using the limited amount of satellite data nowavailable is instructive. Table 2 summarizes the cloudcover observed from the two vantage points, whileTable 3 summarizes the cloud layers observed. Notein the latter the nine cases where the satellite findsclear sky while ground observers report a single layerof cloud. In eight of these nine cases, surface observ-ers reported 0%–5% translucent cirrus cloud cover,which was not detected by the satellite. Despite thedelays with the satellite data, many participants havebeen very happy with the observational portion ofS’COOL. Yet motivating all registered teachers tobecome active participants has been a challenge. Onceroutine processing of CERES data begins we hope toencourage additional teachers to become more active.S’COOL will, however, remain an elective project,

used by teachers as time permitsand interest dictates.

LESSON FOUR: TEACHERSARE PROFESSIONALS, TOO.The ways teachers use a simpleproject to enhance learning willsurprise you.

CERES personnel (scientistsand engineers) expected S’COOLto apply mainly to science andmath education. In practice,teachers have used it for other les-sons as well, and over an ex-tremely broad grade level fromkindergarten to graduate school.A teacher in phase 1 reported thefollowing: “It was a perfect addi-tion to our science weather unitand covered the standards oflearning as well as spilling intoother curriculum areas and get-ting the class out of the traditionalclassroom.”

Observation skills. An elementaryschool teacher in Michigan usesS’COOL as an opportunity to fos-ter observation skills in her stu-dents. Every day before class, theysit out in the courtyard and qui-etly observe their surroundings:seasonal and weather changes,

animal life, vegetation, etc. As she says, “A significantpart of science education is to help students sharpentheir observation skills . . . S’COOL is highly motivat-ing to the children.” S’COOL provides students witha motivation to learn cloud identification, somethingthat is required in most curricula. It also makes learn-ing fun, as indicated in this comment: “The kids havebeen enjoying collecting their data. They feel very im-portant since they are working with NASA.”

Math skills. An elementary school teacher in Virginiareported that her students are so excited aboutS’COOL that they want to perform calculations of unitconversions themselves rather than relying on theInternet calculator page. Addition and division arereinforced while obtaining a class consensus for thevalue of fractional cloud cover and temperature.

Writing/descriptive skills. An elementary school teacherin Virginia has her students writing similes and de-

FIG. 3. Sample result for query of S’COOL database when both groundand satellite data are available. The top panel shows excellent agreementbetween the satellite retrieval and the surface observers. The bottompanel is an example where the satellite cannot see through a thickmidlevel cloud to the low-level nimbostratus that is reported by theS’COOL observers.

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scriptions of what they see while outside observingclouds (i.e., “the clouds look like moldy bread”).These are reported with their observations in the com-ments section of the report form, and complement themore objective report of cloud type.

Foreign language skills. A school in Canada registeredwith S’COOL for the express purpose of using it topractice a second language. Several schools in PuertoRico use S’COOL to practice English. An elementaryschool in Virginia used S’COOL as a focal point forsupplementary language instruction offered by a bi-lingual parent. Recently the Foreign Language Asso-ciation of Virginia embraced S’COOL as a real-worldapplication of language skills.

Technology skills. An elementary school teacher inSouth Carolina reported that this project was a goodway to begin introducing the Internet and computertechnologies to her students. In a number of elemen-tary schools S’COOL becomes a multiage project. Forexample, “I worked with a fourth grade class and thathelped with the computer aspect. You might encour-age other schools to combine a lower elementaryroom with an upper elementary room for increasedparticipation and learning.” Several college educationprofessors use S’COOL to teach how to manage a classof students in a Web-based curriculum unit. Theirmotivation is expressed by this comment: “Thisproject [is] a really nice connection to data collection/measurement and many other aspects of what I hopethese ‘becoming’ teachers will do with kids when theyget into the classroom.

Life skills. An elementary school teacher in France re-ported that he uses S’COOL to help teach his studentsabout responsibility and being punctual. A highschool teacher in Pennsylvania reports: “It’s really ashot in the arm for us to have our kids eager to doanything. They go outside with instruments in hand,subtracting wet-bulb/dry-bulb readings to figure outhumidity, and trying to read our ancient barometer,which has four scales on it. [ . . . A learning disabled]science class is joining my . . . class when we go out.It’s good for both sets of kids to see each other doingsimilar type of work. They take their “job” a little moreseriously than most of my class; which serves as amotivational tool.”

Scientific curiosity. While visiting a middle school inParis, the first author watched students make relativehumidity measurements following the simple direc-tions on the S’COOL poster. The students were rather

uninterested until they got to the last step and observedthe change in temperature for the wet-bulb reading.This first-hand experience provided a teachable mo-ment: why did this happen? During the snowy winterof 2000/01, a sixth-grade class in Illinois became curi-ous about whether relative humidity affects the abilityof snow to pack into snowballs. The began keepingrecords (Fig. 4) and tentatively concluded that it does.

LESSON FIVE: TWO-WAY STREET. Outreachefforts are more valuable if they incorporate teacher feed-back. Scientists know science; teachers know teaching.

S Clear 27 2 2 0A Partly 7 10 2 1T Mostly 5 3 12 7

Overcast 0 1 8 12

TABLE 2. Cloud cover from satellite vs groundobservers.

Ground observers

Clear Partly Mostly Overcast

S Clear 14 9 0A Single 3 29 3

T Multi 3 29 9

TABLE 3. Cloud layers from satellite vs groundobservers.

Ground observers

Clear Single Multi

FIG. 4. Summary of the study by a sixth-grade class onthe relation between relative humidity and the qualityof snowballs.

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The CERES S’COOL project started from a conversation between a teacher and a researcher. The ideawas developed with continuous feedback from teach-ers. As a result, the project has been very successfulin the classroom and has provided learning and mo-tivation to increasing numbers of students. S’COOLis available to all interested teachers for participationat their convenience, when it best fits their curricu-lum and schedule. The S’COOL materials and data areavailable for use by all.

S’COOL participants are part of the CERES vali-dation team. We expect that they will pick up someinteresting trends once matching satellite data becomeplentiful. Whenever possible, CERES researchers andS’COOL personnel visit participating schools. AS’COOL “Wall of Fame” (Fig. 5) marks the locationof each participating school. It is on display nearCERES researchers’ workplace, enabling them tomake S’COOL visits a part of any trip they take. Thesevisits are a very important element of S’COOL, allow-ing us to take the scientific message behind the projectdirectly to the children, and to show them science’shuman face. As a Swiss elementary school teachersaid, “Continue thus and persuade your colleagues todo the same. It is the truest way to ‘germinate’vocations.”

Since 1999 there has been a weeklong summerS’COOL workshop for teachers at NASA LangleyResearch Center. The week includes in-depth workwith elements of the S’COOL Project, introductionto CERES science and scientists, and tours of inter-esting facilities around NASA. Said one participate,“I can never get enough of these guys explainingthe science behind the experiments.” This direct in-teraction between scientists and teachers, some of

whom are experienced S’COOL teachers, never failsto result in ideas for new ways to help studentslearn. Lesson plans and other materials developedin these workshops are made available online for allparticipants.

A participant survey during fall 2000 had a 20%response rate (134 respondents, which is about halfof the then-active participants), and provided objec-tive data as well as room for comments. A large ma-jority of teachers rated the educational impact ofS’COOL highly (Fig. 6). Thirty-three teachers re-ported a total of 557 students showing increased in-terest in science as a career after being involved withS’COOL. The remainder of responding teachers saidit was “too soon to tell.” While this is a qualitativeassessment, it is encouraging news for the S’COOLteam.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. Funding for S’COOL is pro-vided by NASA’s Earth Science Education and EducationOffices, and by CERES.

Our thanks, first, to Eleanor Jones, the sixth-gradeteacher who inspired the idea for S’COOL; to CarolMitchell, a local teacher who has been involved and help-ful from the first phase; to Steve Campbell and others inNASA Langley’s graphics section who developed and nowcontinue the S’COOL “look”; to Carolyn Green, the firsteducational consultant for S’COOL, whose enthusiasmand hard work were key factors in the success of theproject, and who in her third career is now a S’COOL

FIG. 5. The S’COOL “Wall of Fame” in the hallway nearmany CERES researchers’ offices allows the team to con-sider school visits whenever travel is necessary.

FIG. 6. Teacher Rating of Educational Usefulness of andStudent Interest/Learning during the S’COOL Project,as recorded in a participant survey during fall 2000.

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teacher; to Anne M. Racel and Susan J. Haberer of theASDC, the first and second Web gurus of the S’COOLProject, without whom we could not reach so manyschools in so many places; to Ian McGlynn, GretchenBlauvelt, and Allan Armenta, student interns; to Chris-tine York, teacher intern, who contributed to the S’COOLProject; to all the teacher graduates of our summer work-shops, and to all S’COOL teachers around the world, with-out whom this project would remain only an idea.

REFERENCESWielicki, B. A., B. R. Barkstorm, E. F. Harrison, R. B.

Lee III, G. L. Smith, and J. E. Cooper, 1996: Cloudsand the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES): AnEarth Observing System Experiment. Bull. Amer.Meteor. Soc., 77, 853–868.