Extended Abstract (172K)P1.23
Meteorology and Weather Monitoring Display for Nature Centers
Sue Ellen Haupt, Utah State University, Logan, UT
Nature centers are an informal educational opportunity often frequented by school groups and the public. They typically present information about environmental topics and natural science. Often, physical sciences are omitted in favor of biological and environmental sciences. Although these are great forums for learning about science, technology and mathematical sciences are often omitted. This paper reports on a state funded project to prepare and site a display on meteorology and instrumentation to monitor weather variables at Stokes Nature Center in Logan Canyon. The university engineers, scientists, educators and students teamed with Nature Center staff, engineers from Campbell Scientific, Inc., and the U.S. Forest Service to site a weather station at the nature center on Forest Service property and build an educational display plus a learning module around it. The display emphasizes the changes from simple mechanical instruments to the modern state of the art electronic instruments such as those in the current weather station. Visitors are encouraged to consider the validity of weather lore while observing current conditions in the vicinity and what they mean for the forecast weather. The display was designed to be used by both school groups and public “drop in” visitors who want to learn about the area. The school group use is in conjunction with a learning module specifically designed to encourage group learning.
Poster Session 1, Poster Session Educational initiatives (Hall 4AB)
Sunday, 11 January 2004, 5:00 PM-7:00 PM, Hall 4AB
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