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On Saturday, June 1, 2024, thousands of community members attended the Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics (STEM) Community Day hosted by Christopher Newport University in partnership with Newport News Public Schools in Virginia. The event showcased many different facets of STEM fields and careers and offered hands-on experiences by nearly 100 exhibitors. Educators from the National Institute of Aerospace's Center for Integrated STEM Education (NIA-CISE) engaged learners of all ages at this annual event with a 13-foot tree. Participants learned how to measure tree height using a clinometer and why NASA collects this data with the help of volunteers, also knowns as "citizen scientists" (e.g. one reason is to calculate how much carbon trees and forests take in or release into the atmosphere). Each family was able to take home a kit to make their own clinometers. Another activity offered by the NIA-CISE team involved learning about Earth's energy balance (e.g. participants selected cards of activities that either reflect energy back to space or are absorbed by Earth and had to decide whether those activities belonged to the "in" or "out" side of Earth's energy balance).
