Kids in Kazakstan Join Global Environmental Monitoring Project

by Dixie Simon

A group of fifth graders in New Jersey gathers outside their school to measure air temperatures and record the amount and type of cloud cover. In Kansas, a group of high schoolers records soil moisture levels and carefully enters the data into a computer. Meanwhile, around the world in Kazakstan, students are carrying out identical measurements and using the Internet to compare their findings with those of other students in Europe and Asia.

In a new program called Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) such scenes are commonplace. GLOBE is a hands-on, school-based environmental science and education program involving students in primary and secondary schools throughout the world. The program brings together students, teachers and scientists to foster environmental awareness worldwide, contribute to the scientific understanding of the earth, and improve student achievement in science and mathematics.

GLOBE students make environmental measurements that were selected by scientists of various disciplines for their potential contribution to world science. Measurements include atmospheric indicators such as air temperature, precipitation and cloud cover, as well as water temperature, Ph and soil moisture. Students discuss the results with their teachers, who have been trained in GLOBE methods, and the data is sent to a special processing facility via the Internet. Scientists world-wide can then access the GLOBE data and use it in their research. GLOBE scientists also interact with teachers and students, providing feedback and encouragement, strengthening the links between leading research scientists and schools around the world.

An initiative of US Vice President Al Gore, GLOBE went on-line on Earth Day, 1995. Over 45 countries have signed agreements to join, including Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia. In Kazakstan, GLOBE is under the Ministry of Ecology and Bioresources, but the Fund in Support of Environmental Education, an Almaty NGO, is responsible for its implementation. Other local NGOs and Peace Corps volunteers are working with the Fund to get the program off the ground.

GLOBE is an international partnership program that is conducted on a "no exchange of funds" basis. Each country is responsible for identifying GLOBE schools, equipping them with the necessary computers and modems, and translating and adapting GLOBE materials. Schools are responsible for taking the environmental measurements appropriate to students' age levels, reporting the data to the processing facility, and incorporating program materials into their curriculum.

The program in Kazakstan began with a five-day "train the trainers" workshop in Pushina, Russia in December 1995. At that workshop, the Kazakstan country coordinator, three teachers and two Peace Corps volunteers from Kazakstan along with 50 other participants from around the NIS were trained to make the measurements and use the Internet to send and retrieve program data and communicate with other GLOBE schools around the world.

Since then, steady progress has been made to implement the program in Kazakstan. In December 1996, Tatyana Tarasenko and her students at the Gorky Gymnasium in Kustanai first reported data to the GLOBE data processing facility. This spring, the Fund in Support of Environmental Education organized a second GLOBE training workshop in Almaty. Over 70 teachers, NGO members and Peace Corps staff and volunteers from Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Poland participated in the workshop.

The program has been successful in bringing the government, business, education and NGO communities together around a common goal. Financial and technical support for the workshop came from such diverse sources as Mobil Oil, IBM, Mercy Corps International, the Soros Foundation, the government of Kazakstan and a local NGO.

With 41 trained science teachers in Kazakstan, the program is off to a strong start. Three schools are already actively participating. Central Asian children can now discuss the desiccation of the Aral Sea with South American children studying deforestation in the Amazon River basin, leading not only to a broader understanding of global environmental issues, but a greater appreciation of the diversity of human culture.

Dixie Simon is a Peace Corps volunteer in Kazakstan. Peace Corps volunteer Bryan Garcia also contributed to this report. GLOBE, 744 Jackson Place N.W., Washington, D.C., 20503; phone: (202) 395-7600, fax: (202) 395-7611; e-mail: info@globe.gov