About 100 students from public schools in Ohio and Michigan will present their science research projects at the SATELLITES Student Conference on Wednesday, May 3 at The University of Toledo Thompson Student Union Ingman Room and Room 2582.

The students, who represent grades kindergarten through college, will share their research related to the Earth’s environment through poster presentations that will be judged by local scientists and teachers.

The conference begins at 4:30 p.m. today (Wednesday, May 3) with students presenting their research to the judges from 5 to 6:45 p.m.

Dr. Michael Cushing, associate professor of astronomy and director of UT’s Ritter Planetarium, will give the keynote address at 7 p.m. about the upcoming solar eclipse in August. His address will be followed by the presentation of awards.

The students from districts such as Toledo, Akron and Detroit designed research projects around their own science questions first creating a hypotheses, then collecting data and analyzing their findings to draw conclusions that will be shared through poster displays at the conference.

Dr. Kevin Czajkowski, UT professor of geography and planning, created the SATELLITES program, which stands for Students And Teachers Exploring Local Landscapes to Interpret The Earth from Space.

Through the SATELLITES program, students have access to GLOBE resources to help answer their research questions. GLOBE is the acronym for Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment, which is an international science and education program that connects students, teachers, scientists and citizens from different parts of the world to conduct real, hands-on science about their local environment and put it in a global perspective.