| A project to introduce children
to meteorological and climate science at their schools through hands-on
technology will soon reach a wider audience with the help of award-winning
children’s author Lynne Cherry – who has written a book that features the
Weather RATS program.
Weather RATS is a collaborative,
long-distance project that tracks and compares weather data from K-12 schools
using a network of weather stations installed at member schools, along
with weather data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) and National Weather Service (NWS). Weather RATS incorporates
student research, instructional technology, math/science/engineering concepts
and practices into a K-12 integrated curriculum centered on weather.
Author Cherry featured the
Weather RATS in How We Know What We Know About our Changing Climate, a
book about how children can help measure weather data and contribute to
the worldwide effort to track global warming. Weather RATS project
leader Mary Taft worked extensively with Lynne on this project. In
addition, workshops given by Sandra-Cruz Pol to K-12 teachers in Puerto
Rico discussed how to help monitor global warming changes and how to help
slow global warming. Workshops were held in Rio Grande for 500 teachers,
in San Juan for 75 teachers, and the K-12 Weather, Earth Climate and Energy
(WECE) workshop in Mayaguez for 87 teachers. |
