District Eleven Weather Study Program: Current Status and Future Plans

The District Eleven Weather Study Program (DEWS) is an atmospheric-sciences education project involving all fifth- and eighth- grade students in Community School District 11. It is an endeavor that is, perhaps, unique in the nation in its scope, design, and operation, capitalizing on satellite communications and Internet technologies.

Since its inception in 1984, the predominant principle governing the project is that pupil participation in activities that include the utilization of near-real time weather information can help to motivate young students to develop an interest in science.

Current satellite-cloud imagery, radar graphics, and National Weather Service (NWS) numeric and text information are used extensively in lessons at the Northeast Bronx (District 11) Weather Station (NBWS), the center of weather-education activities for District 11. Current state and local forecasts, storm and flood advisories, warnings, and summaries, climatological reports, and hourly surface-weather observations are but only a few examples of the national and international NWS information products available to pupils for study.

Teachers participating in DEWS also have been using weather data in their mathematics lessons. Children plot graphs and calculate averages of temperature, barometric pressure, and relative humidity from meteorological data they have compiled each day. Weather-study activities also have been integrated into other subject areas such as geography, current events, global studies, language arts, and art.

In response to the accomplishments of DEWS, and as a result of its belief that in studying the atmosphere students will gain important skills in basic science and technology, CSD 11 has made a commitment to the goal to extend the study of real-time weather to all of the district's schools through the establishment of a weather station at each institution. At the present time, a weather facility has been created at six middle schools and at eight elementary schools. Each school weather station has the capability of connecting to the Internet for the acquisition of current weather information. Moreover, an array of outdoor weather instruments linked to classroom computers has been installed in ten of these schools providing students with real-time and archived school-based weather data for study.

Most noteworthy, is the recent pledge by CSD 11 to revise its entire science curriculum for grades 4 - 8. Plans are now being developed for an Earth Systems Science thematic approach to science instruction across these grade levels with an emphasis on the atmosphere and in support of the national and New York State science standards.