Heritage Middle School Scholars Work with NASA to Classify Snowflakes

Scholars in Ms. Aileen Toback’s science class at Heritage Middle School participated in a STEM engagement beta testing opportunity entitled: “MASC Snowflake ID.” Heritage Middle School scholars helped contribute to NASA’s work and NASA’s Global Precipitation Mission (GPM) in understanding climate change by categorizing snowflakes using a Multi-Angle Snowflake Camera (MASC). The purpose of the project was to involve students in the science of snowflake classification through Zoonverse, while simultaneously building a dataset that will be used to "teach" machine learning algorithms to automatically identify other, larger sets of snowflakes. 

Through this project students had the opportunity to gain a better understanding of snowflake formation, growth, and sedimentation beginning with the initiation of ice crystals in cold clouds. They are also able to better comprehend how these small-scale processes influence larger scale events, leading to changes in cloud coverage, water distribution, energy balance, and global temperatures.

The science of classification is a common theme throughout all fields of science and is an important skill for our students to develop.

Ms. Aileen Toback was recently named a Climate Change Research Initiative Education Ambassador for NASA. This opportunity presented itself as a result of her work as an education ambassador. 

ATTENTION: Are your scholars or colleagues doing something great? Please contact the district Communications Team at communications@necsd.net. We’d love to visit your class or event and/or post your pictures and recap to highlight the amazing accomplishments throughout our district!