WEATHER…A HANDS ON APPROACH

Our goal is not to teach weather. We are attempting to teach children through the vehicle of weather!

PROGRAM DETAILS:

A) The program was developed for youngsters primarily in grades three through 12.

B) It is designed for students ranging from the gifted to those that are challenged.

C) It is an interdisciplinary approach.

1. ENGLISH: Students learn reading, writing, spelling and vocabulary skills. They organize and write basic discussions and forecasts.

2. SPEECH & PRESENTATION: Students plan their discussions, audiotape them for critique. Presentation of discussion and forecast is optional to each class.

3. GEOGRAPHY: Students must become familiar with local, national and international locations including oceans, lakes, rivers and mountains as well as some of the larger cities in the United States and the world.

4. MAP SKILLS: Students learn latitude, longitude, distance, topography, map reading and construction skills. (Drawing and analyzing weather maps and hurricane charts).

5. MATHEMATICS: Mathematical skills from basic to advanced can be utilized when constructing weather forecasts.

6. GRAPHING SKILLS: Students learn to read and interpret barograph and thermograph traces.

7. INTERPERSONAL SKILLS: Students must learn to work cooperatively while “putting together” a weather forecast.

8. COMPETITIVE SKILLS: Students have the opportunity to compete with other students in their own class, other classes, other schools or even other school districts. (Forecast competition).

9. OBSERVATIONAL SKILLS: Students learn how to observe clouds as well as other weather parameters such as temperature, wind, air pressure etc. They then put this all together and determine the resulting upcoming weather.

10. HISTORY: Students have the opportunity to look up major storms of the past and see how these storms have influenced the course of history.

11. ART AND DRAWINGT SKILLS: Students could construct the weatherboard for out in the hall to display their weather findings. They make signs and labels for the different maps in the weather area.

12. CARPENTRY: Student with certain talents could construct a housing for the weather instruments. They could construct a wooden weatherboard for the school hallway. Students could also construct weather instruments. (Board with bulbs in the classroom and an armature from a motor on the roof with wires connecting the bulbs to the given plates on the armature).

13. SCIENCE SKILLS: Through the science of meteorology, Physics, Chemistry, General Science, Earth Science, Biology, Astronomy etc. can be taught.

D) This program builds Self Esteem and Self Confidence. “The students know something the other students in the school do not know!!! A big snowstorm is coming!!!! The snow is only 100 miles to our west!!!! These students (and teachers) become special and everyone asks them about the upcoming storm. Even when they go home, they are the experts.

E) This program is great for teaching the SCIENTIFIC METHOD!