The GLOBE Program

GLOBE is an educational and hands-on programme, which exists on the international platform. MoEF has appointed IES as a Coordinating Agency for implementing the GLOBE Program in India. Under this project, IES has been providing Hands-on opportunities to School Community by assigning some unique experiments related to Atmosphere, Land Cover, Hydrology, and Soil Protocols. The GLOBE experts from IES impart training to schoolteachers on the GLOBE Protocols. The teachers, after getting trained, further impart GLOBE training to their students and start with the GLOBE Program in their respective schools. The GLOBE data, collected by them, is then used for the research purpose, thus linking students, teachers, and scientific research community in an effort to learn more about environment.

The Programme: Background and Objectives

The Ministry of Environment and Forests, Govt. of India has appointed Indian Environmental Society as a co-ordinating agency for implementing the GLOBE Program in the schools of the Country.

The Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) is an international environmental science and education program involving elementary and secondary school students in collecting the data concerning their local environments. This is a hands-on programme that unites students, teachers, and scientific research community from all over the world in studying and conducting research about the dynamics of the earth’s environment. Hundreds and thousands of GLOBE students all over the world are taking important environmental measurements and reporting the data. GLOBE students transmit the collected data to a central data processing facility via Internet, acquire information from a variety of sources, and then collaborate with GLOBE Scientists and other GLOBE students to use the data for education and research purpose. Currently more than 10,000 schools in over 96 countries around the world are participating in the program. India joined the GLOBE program in August 2000. The goals of the GLOBE are:

• To enhance the environmental awareness of individual throughout the world;
• To contribute the scientific understanding of the earth; and
• To help all students reach higher levels of achievement in science and mathematics.

Progress during the Year

IES has prepared a low cost small information booklet summarizing the GLOBE programme. The booklet contains the detailed information of the GLOBE programme and also contains all the GLOBE Protocols in detail. The booklet has been distributed among all the GLOBE schools of the country for quick reference. The Society has involved 60 schools from Delhi, Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh), and Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) in the GLOBE Program.

Till date, the Society has trained more than 150 schoolteachers on the following GLOBE Investigation: 1) ATMOSPHERE 2) HYDROLOGY 3) SOIL and 4) LAND COVER.

The geographical positions (latitude, longitude, and elevation of all the project schools has been determined by the IES with the help of GPS receiver. These readings were submitted to the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Govt. of India for registering the GLOBE schools to the GLOBE headquarters. The schools were registered and were provided with the individual and unique IDs for reporting the collected GLOBE data.

For carrying out the programme further in an efficient way, the Society has prepared an Instrument kit which contains all the essential equipments required for taking the measurements of the GLOBE protocols.

All the GLOBE Schools have selected the sites within their schools for performing GLOBE measurements. The GLOBE schools have started collecting the GLOBE data and the students are reporting data to the GLOBE headquarters. The parameters on which GLOBE students are collecting and reporting data are cloud type/cloud cover, max/min. temperature, pH, TDS, Soil Characterization (top and bottom depth of soil profile; colour; texture; consistency; carbonates; roots; rocks etc. of each soil profile).

The Society has launched the website on the GLOBE program which can be assessed as www.globeindia.org. The Website was launched by Shri Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Hon’ble Vice President of India, at Vice President House, 6 Maulana Azad Road, New Delhi. All the information on the GLOBE program gathered by GLOBE students (from Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh) and IES project staff has been displayed on the website. This has facilitated effective communication with the participant schools.

The team from IES has physically monitored all the GLOBE schools who have participated in the training workshops. Efforts will be made by IES to achieve 100% results. The Society would continuously follow and monitor the activities of the GLOBE program.

The GLOBE Program has enhanced the capacity of teachers and students, facilitate activities and action projects to address local environmental issues through hands-on environmental education. The program has also helped the students in improving the knowledge and understanding of science, maths, and other innovative information technologies. GLOBE gives children from both rural and urban areas the opportunities to broaden their horizons and to learn more about the environmental situation in their surrounding and how that situation in their surroundings and how that situation relates to other areas of the country of the world.

Back