Good practices

Selected for piloting
GLOBE Aerosols - iSPEX

Working Group:Science through digital learningCountry:NetherlandsLanguages:DutchAge of students (target group/s):15-18Links, resources:https://drive.google.com/folderv...
http://ispex.nl/en/techniek/fijn...
Contact person information:Matthijs Begheyn
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Dutch scholars contribute to scientific research of aerosols. Two satellites are launched in order to gain knowledge about resources and the spreading of aerosols. The measurements from these satellites are being calibrated and controlled by measurements from the Earth's surface. Scientists from the Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute (KNMI) use special solar photo devices to measure light intensity and the amount of aerosols in the atmosphere. Scholars carry out the same measurements with the same device and deliver important contribution to the reliability of scientific climate research as they enlarge the amount of the data and the geographical spreading of the data.
The GLOBE module consists of 6 lessons about atmospheric measurements:
- Aerosols
- Air humidity
- Cloud types
- Air pressure
- Air temperature
- Cloud coverage

iSPEX: crowdsourcing aerosol measurements with smartphones
A recent development, in which GLOBE Netherlands participates as education partner, is the use of smartphones. With an add-on on your iPhone this everyday tool changes into a scientific instrument to measure properties of aerosols. Soon, iSPEX will provide education kits on the Classroom Lessons page. These education kits will allow teachers to use iSPEX in their teaching. But it is not only in the classroom that you can learn more with iSPEX! On this website, we explain two fundamental properties of light: the spectrum and polarisation. We also suggest to do an investigation with iSPEX of everyday objects and phenomena.Strong points and opportunities:- The Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute is a partner of the project not only for the measuring device, but also for the support. Scientists from KNMI assist during teacher trainings, that are hosted by the meteorological institute, and they report how the scholar data is being used.
- Smartphones are widely available. A user friendly application that makes (contributing to) scientific measurements possible is new, nice and relevant. It gives scientists the opportunity to collect a wide range of data and gives scholars the opportunity to practice real life education.Limitations:- Frequent and regular measuring is required.Added value with regards to the 3 topics of the MASS project:- Use of smartphones for scientific research.
- The combination of (‘old school’) classroom materials, outdoor measurements and an online database with world-wide measurements.Any prerequisites needed:- A solar-photo device or a smartphone