2002 Annual

Sunday, 13 January 2002
Networking in New York: The Growth of Weather Resource Teachers in the Capital District
Carol A. Hildreth, AMS/AERA and Shenendehowa High School, Clifton Park, NY
As an AERA [Atmosphere Education Resource Agent], I have the privilege of sharing teaching ideas with my colleagues in New York’s Capital District. This poster presents examples of our accomplishments in weather studies, as well as the reaching-out effects of Project Atmosphere. Colored stars on the maps of New York State and the Capital District represent teachers who have benefited from Project Atmosphere weather modules and the DataStreme Project graduate course. The blue stars represent our seven semesters of DataStreme-trained Weather Education Resource Teachers [WERTs]. Pictures show our DataStreme group in action, as well as other teachers-in-training at various workshops. The numerous red stars scattered throughout the Capital District indicate those teachers who have been instructed in the use of Project Atmosphere weather modules. These teachers have attended my workshops at the Science Teachers of New York State [STANYS] Eastern Conference, BOCES Earth Science Teachers Conference, Shenendehowa Central School, and the Earth Science Design Workshops, sponsored by EARTH SMART and CASDA.

Other AERA activities include: contributing two online weather labs, with DataStreme links, to the Union College Earth Science Labs homepage; being a consultant for the VAL [Virtual Atmosphere Laboratory] Project; doing a television promo for the TV Channel 6 “Direct Weather” online teacher manual, which I helped to author; and teaching a Summer@Siena College “Today’s Weather” course to middle school students. My students were asked to prepare a weather forecast after three days of learning weather basics and observing daily products from the DataStreme Homepage. Samples of their forecast maps are included. I find being an AERA very gratifying. Imagine how many students will ultimately benefit from the weather training that I have been able to provide to their teachers, thanks to the dedication of Project Atmosphere/The DataStreme Project.

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