SciJinks: GOES-16 Science for Young Students

SciJinks is a joint National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) educational website about weather, satellite meteorology, and Earth science. Targeting middle- and high-school aged students—as well as formal and informal educators—the web and print products produced by SciJinks reach an audience of more than half a million readers each year. In preparation for the 2016 launch of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-16 (GOES-16) weather satellite, the SciJinks team used its wide reach to create awareness of the GOES-R series satellites with young audiences through a series of web and print products. The web products included three animated videos, five web-based games—including one app for Android and iOS—and more than a dozen web articles about the capabilities of the satellite series. GOES-R series print products included a sticker series, bookmarks, a temporary tattoo, and a comic book. Due to the success and popularity of these products at and after the GOES-16 launch, the SciJinks team is producing a similar suite of products for the upcoming Joint Polar Satellite System-1 (JPSS-1) launch in 2017.