| For the second year in the row, "Weather in the Classroom",
a 2 1/2 day workshop hit the road during the Summer of 2001. This
workshop was presented by Professor Ken Dewey of the Meteorology/Climatology
program in the Department of Geosciences at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
The workshops have been financially supported by the Nebraska Math
and Science Initiative (University of Nebraska, College of Arts
and Sciences); and, the Center for Science, Math and Computer Education,
University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Additional resource assistance came
from The Weather Channel, Atlanta, GA., National Aeronautics and
Space Administration, National Severe Storms Laboratory, and the
Department of Geosciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
The workshops had ten weather and climate related topics: 1. Observing
the Weather; 2. Weather Map Analysis; 3. Weather in the Water Cycle;
4. Internet Resources; 5. Project Safeside; 6. Tornadoes and other
forms of Severe Weather; 7. Hurricanes; 8. El Niño and La
Niña; 9. Weather vs. Climate and the use of ClimProb; and,
10. Computer lab exercises.
There were numerous hands-on activities including weather data
collection, calibrating instruments, analyzing surface weather maps,
isolining maps, building a 3 dimensional surface weather map, demonstrating
pressure differences, demonstrating convection, demonstrating El
Niño and La Niña in a large container of water, measuring
the temperatures of different objects using an infrared thermometer,
building a tornado simulator, and computer lab usage of ClimProb
software.
Several weather instruments were given free to the workshop participants
including a barometer, windspeed gauge, sling psychrometer, hygrometer,
and rain gauge. An infrared thermometer was given to the ESU, and
can be checked out by any science teacher. Other free classroom
materials were also provided.
This workshop introduced and/or reinforced several concepts related
to state and national science, social science and geography standards,
These standards as well as much more information about these workshops
(including photographs showing the workshop activities) can be found
at www.hprcc.unl.edu/nebraska/weatherclassroom2001.html |
