Scouts Australia Working with NASA
Scouts in Australia have been asked by NASA to help with an important project that will help our world
All Scouts in Australia are invited to participate in this unique competition being held from the 15 June to the 13 October 2019. Not only could your team win a trip to Canberra and meet a NASA scientist but you’ll be helping to develop new NASA technology to help our world.
Help validate satellite based land cover data.
The information captured through this competition will help scientists from NASA, Geoscience Australia, CSIRO and others validate information obtained via satellite.
This will be used to help with a large number of science areas including monitoring and reporting on the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and other ecological projects.
Form a team from members of your Scout Group, register and download the app. The aim is to earn points by the types and number of photos you take on your phone or other mobile device through the app.
Rules
Registering Your Team
- Each teams must be registered both with GLOBE (https://www.globe.gov/globe-community/globe-teams) and with Scouts Australia (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1GyBlpprZJBVbjF8Fg9jvUQJAlE2MEGdpiBstcL5N78Q/viewform?ts=5cf08c2e&edit_requested=true) in order to participate in the competition.
- Team names should follow the format “Scouts Australia – Team name” (eg “Scouts Australia – Pacific Venturers”).
- Team Points will only accrue from either the competition start date or team registration whichever is the later.
Participants
- Participants are primarily scouting members both youth (all sections) and leaders.
- Community members (eg friends, relations etc) may participate as members of the team. However, redemption of prizes is focused at Scouting members (see below).
Scoring Points
- Points will accrue based on the locality map provided here (http://arcg.is/18bCnL). In general, observations are worth greater points the further they are away from large populated areas.
- The winner will be the team with the most points with second and third being the next highest.
Prizes
1st Prize
Travel by a representative group from the winning team to Canberra (5-6 people). This would be done as part of GEO Week (4-9 Nov 2019) (https://www.earthobservations.org/geoweek19.php). The Canberra visit would include participation in the prize conferring ceremony, and visits to science based facilities (eg Questacon, and various national natural history collections).
Online “Meet a Scientist” sessions. This would be an online session with a scientist from a National or international science based Organisation. (eg CSIRO, NASA, Geoscience Australia).
2nd and 3rd Prize
Online “Meet a Scientist” sessions. This would be an online session(s) with a scientist from a National or international science based Organisation. (eg CSIRO, NASA, Geoscience Australia).
Prizes will be redeemed as a scouting group. Where reference is made to “representatives” it is intended that this would be a mix of youth and suitable adults (where appropriate).
Prizes will be redeemed no later than the end of 1st Term for the state involved.
Land Access
When planning your activity it is important that you obtain permission from the land owner before entering any property. If you are planning to include activities in public parks and areas, we suggest that you contact the local council and/or the relevant park manager to let them know that you are participating in this competition and purpose of collecting the information.
Announcement of winners
Winners will be announced in the week beginning 14 October 2019.
Please note Branch/National Scout policy and rules apply to all Scouting activities
