Program GLOBE worked with Peace Corps in the Czech Republic
Program GLOBE worked with Peace Corps in the Czech Republic
Program GLOBE in the Czech Republic
Dana Votapkova - TEREZA, Association for Environmental Education
The GLOBE Program in the Czech Republic started in April 1995.
In April 22nd we celebrated not only the 25th anniversary of the Earth Day but also the start of the GLOBE Program in our country. Students with their teachers and guests were rolling a huge three meter wide globe, symbol of the Earth Day and the GLOBE Project through the narrow Prague lanes. Students from 25 localities in the whole republic came to Prague with their one meter wide globes which decorated and with their messages , expressing their worries about the future of the planet Earth. Students passed their messages together with decorated globes to invited personalities from government, business sector and science, stressing to them their responsibility for the environment.
In the Czech Republic the official guarantors of the GLOBE program are the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Education. TEREZA, Association for Environmental Education is the National coordinator of the project, at which it closely cooperated with the U.S. Peace Corps in the Czech Republic. Unfortunately U.S. Peace Corps finished their work in our country this June. TEREZA is non- profit, non- governmental organization.
The following institutions cooperate on the project:
Charles University, Czech University of Technology, Czech Hydro-Meteorological Institute, Science Faculty and Pedagogical Faculty of Charles University.
In the Czech Republic 82 schools take part in the GLOBE program, of which there are 42 primary schools, 32 secondary schools and 8 groups of children from hobby clubs. 52 groups send the acquired data to the GLOBE Center in U.S.A. regularly while the others are getting ready and take only practice measurements at present.
The training workshops
It is necessary to keep the same measurement procedures in the whole World in the GLOBE Program. That is why at least one representative of each school must take part in a 5 day long training workshop. Since April 1995, two international and five Czech GLOBE training workshops have taken place in the Czech Republic. All together 98 teachers and 20 volunteers from US Peace Corps participated in them.
Aids and tools to carry out measurements
TEREZA tries to ensure the aids and tools for the schools so as they could begin measuring as soon as possible. The participating schools receive the maximum-minimum thermometer, hydrological thermometer, pH meter, professional container to measure rainfall (we thank the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute for providing them) a compass, magnifying glass, paper clinometer, tubular densitometer, color poster to learn recognize the kinds of clouds, the GLOBE poster, etc.
Internet
It is a problem with the Internet connection for schools in the Czech Republic because it is still rather expensive. In the beginning of the GLOBE Program only about three participating schools had Internet connection. That is why the schools send their data by fax once a week to TEREZA which sends them through Internet so as they could be processed. In June 1996, TEREZA and other 30 GLOBE schools submitted a successful grant application at the Open Society Fund and got a grant to cover Internet costs during one year. This is why the number of schools using Internet increased rapidly to about 40 schools.
GLOBE Newsletter
As many schools are not connected to Internet yet and would not have any feedback from the project, TEREZA decided to publish special GLOBE Newsletter in which we answer the most frequent questions, inform the readers about what is happening in the GLOBE world and at the Czech schools. The participants may write contributions to the Newsletter and inspire each other in this way. The Newsletter is published 3 to 4 times a year.
The GLOBE Newsletter has an enclosure which includes for example the results of the measurements - color maps. The students may compare and look for connection among them. The Newsletter number 3 had special enclosure - hurricane Fran. We used the images from the GLOBE Program, translated the information from the American scientists and together with Czech expert wrote a special article about hurricane and explained more details. Czech students and teachers enjoyed this enclosure very much.
GLOBE poster
In April 1996, a color poster of the GLOBE Program was printed out. It includes many color photographs and satellite pictures. With this poster in hand, everybody can get a notion of what the GLOBE program is. There are photographs from all the main kinds of measurements, and subsequent results of the measurements in the form of color satellite maps. Each photograph includes a note in both Czech and English. Our teachers and students can use it very well when introducing the GLOBE program to other students and teachers, local government representatives, business people, etc. It can also serve well in fundraising for GLOBE, namely for Internet.
The GLOBE Poster had also success in the United Nations.
In late April, the UN Commission for Sustainable Development met in New York. The GLOBE program representatives from Washington informed the participants of the meeting about the objectives and content of the GLOBE program. The Czech Republic sent three delegates to the meeting: Bedoich Moldan (Charles University Environmental Center), Jan K#160#ra (Czech Foreign Ministry), and Lubom#161#r Nondek (Czech Environmental Ministry). They included information on the development of the GLOBE program in the Czech Republic into their contributions and distributed the GLOBE color poster to the participants.
Work sheets
In 1996 we published GLOBE worksheets containing various activities and tasks that should enable students to understand more difficult themes or individual connections. The GLOBE worksheets consist of four parts - each of them has 10 sheets on average. When preparing them we cooperated with experts from various fields. The pictures from the Czech work sheets drawn by the artist Jan Smolik were given a great honor - the new American manual GLOBE II was decorated with them.
GLOBE Scientific Board
On April 16, 1996, the Scientific Board of the GLOBE Program in the Czech Republic was established at a festive event organized just because of this occasion in the Prague Internet cafC Cybeteria. Eleven top scientists and professionals from different natural sciences have joined the Board. The Board help with the work on the materials for both teachers and students, interpreting the data measured and processing the results.
European meeting of the GLOBE coordinators in Stuttgart
At the end of May 1996 the first meeting of national coordinators of the GLOBE Program from Europe was held in Stuttgart. Jana Ledvinova, the director of TEREZA, who represented the Czech GLOBE there was elected the Chairwoman of the European Commission of the GLOBE Program for 1996.
The first Czech evaluation conference of the GLOBE Program
In November the first Czech evaluation conference of the GLOBE Program was held, organized by TEREZA and U.S. Peace Corps. This conference was attended by principals, teachers and students from 22 schools from all over the Czech Republic who participated actively in the program and also by representatives of the Ministry of Education and Charles University. The presence of Douglas McNeal, the first deputy of the U.S. ambassador for science and research, confirmed the importance the U.S.A. ascribe to the development of cooperation of students and scientists for the benefit of the environment.
The greatest surprise of the conference was the discovery that the GLOBE is suitable not only for the so-called study types but also for children with learning disorders.
TEREZA published the report from the first Czech Evaluation GLOBE Conference in Czech and English language.
The Interesting events in the GLOBE Program in the Czech Republic
GLOBE Web Chat with Madeleine Albright, U.S. Secretary of State Students in the GLOBE Program were invited to participate in the first-ever Internet Interview with a Secretary of State. About 300 questions sent GLOBE students from all over the world to Madeleine Albright. There were participated 5 schools from the Czech Republic. Madeleine Albright sent them one answer in Czech language !
In May 1997 Peace Corps Director Mark D.Gearan visited one GLOBE school in Prague. It was great event for students, teachers, principal and TEREZA.
In November 1996 Professor Barry Rock with colleagues from University New Hampshire in Durham who works with the GLOBE from the beginning visited two GLOBE schools in the Czech Republic. The experts explained students a lot about remote sensing.
TEREZA was invited by Netherlands GLOBE Country Coordinator Martin Bosch to participate in video-conference for the occasion of celebration the Marshall Plan in the Hague. Jana Ledvinova, director of TEREZA, participated in it.
Czech Republic has two GLOBE Stars. You can read about them and see the pictures in GLOBE Computer program.
The first Patron of the GLOBE Program in the Czech Republic is the Hotel Renaissance Prague. The general manager of the Hotel, Mr. Erich Zuri, received the Certificate on the special reception. Before it 6 students from 2 schools did ecological audit in the Hotel. Students examined the waste management of the hotel, the system of saving energy, water management etc. The results from the audit were very good and students decided to give to the Hotel Renaissance the first certificate - Patron of the GLOBE Program in the Czech Republic.
The GLOBE Fund
In the beginning of July 1997 TEREZA started the special event which will continue 100 day. The name of this event is "100 Days for GLOBE". TEREZA would like to establish the GLOBE Fond which opens the opportunity for long-term financially of the GLOBE Program of children in the Czech Republic. Every day two members of TEREZA together with volunteers show to the visitors of Prague in the Prague castle the posters from the GLOBE and explain the information about GLOBE. People from all over the world are visiting the GLOBE Information. TEREZA printed special edition of Certificates for this occasion and everybody who is the founder of the GLOBE Fond receive it for memory. There is a satellite image of Prague on the Certificate. We printed only 10 000 certificates and each of them has its number. For the founders who support GLOBE in the Czech republic by higher contribution is prepared special edition of postcards and T-shirt. During the first week of the event the Minister for foreign affairs Mr. Zieleniec with his deputy minister Sa_a Vondra came. Also the USAID leading managers Robert Posner came to support the GLOBE. Among the first founders of the GLOBE Fond who came to the Prague castle were the GLOBE trainers from the U.S.A. whose were in Prague on the honey-moon Paul and Cara Core.
TEREZA Association for Environmental Education Mailing address: P.O. BOX 77, Praha 1, Czech Republic Office: Senovazne nam. 24, 116 47 Praha 1 phone: +420 2 76 9401; fax +420 2 76 42 85 e-mail: tereza@ecn.cz
