The GOES-16/17 Virtual Science Fair

The GOES-R Education Proving Ground from NOAA's Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) orchestrated a Virtual Science Fair (VSF) in spring 2019 to enable G6-14 student investigations of ABI and GLM data from our nation's newest geostationary satellites: GOES-16 and GOES-17. Working closely with 6 core GOES-R Educators from 4 different states, we developed detailed guidelines and scoring rubrics for teams to follow. There were three levels of competition: grades 6-8, grades 9-11 and grades 12-14 with nominal 1^st place monetary prizes. Additionally, lead teachers coaching the winning teams received travel support to attend and present at the AMS Centennial meeting!

There were 9 submissions from 5 different states to the inaugural 2019 VSF: 4 middle school and 5 high school. This AMS presentation will feature first-hand testimonies and tips from teachers who coached the winning teams and details of the student research projects. We will also share dates and information related to the 2020 Virtual Science Fair sponsored by the GOES-R Program. (cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/education/goesr/vsf.html)

By repeating the VSF in spring 2020 we will leverage resources already developed and establish a small library of student research projects applying GOES-16/17 data. Finally, the icing on the cake: all students and teachers from the 2019 and 2020 1st-place projects garner official GOES-T launch invites!