Tuesday, 15 January 2002: 11:15 AM
A Miami/Dade County Mesonet?
The Meteorology Department and Science Education program of Florida State
University, in collaboration with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA), will establish a school-site meteorological project to be
located in Miami/Dade County Public Schools. This new collaborative
project is entitled Middle School Students' REALM (Really Exploring And
Learning Meteorology). The projects foci are:
(1) to expose more middle school girls to meteorological science
content, (2) to develop a positive and supportive learning environment for
participating girls and boys, (3) to provide on site technical assistance
to participating science teachers for content implementation, and (4) to
provide a vehicle for greater parent-girl participation in science
activities. In order to maximize resources we will utilize and
leverage available meteorology resources (weather stations) that are in
demographically dispersed middle schools. Involvement in this project will
enhance girls awareness of career opportunities for women in the field of
science in general and meteorology in particular. This project will also
increase middle school girls self-esteem and confidence in learning science
concepts, which integrate the use of mathematics and technology. This
project model aims to reduce the attrition in advanced level science,
mathematics and technology coursework that typically occurs as girls move
from middle school to high school, which carries over into higher
education.
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