Weather Bugs: Turn our School into a Weather Station
My students need the WeatherBug Weather Station and Weather Bug Achieve Interactive Web Tools to as part of our STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Lab.
This project is part of the Black History Month celebration because it supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of the students are Black.
My Students
My students need to see themselves working as scientists, engineers and mathematicians. Tracking, interpreting, analyzing and reporting the weather is just the type of daily activity that can transform our regular elementary students into excited and enthusiastic scientists and mathematicians.
My students are third through eighth grade students in an urban school.
My student body is 99% African American and 98% of them receive free or reduced lunch. The scientific opportunities my students previously experienced were limited, but their enthusiasm for science lab is high. We want to turn our school into a science and math power house! Before our STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Lab was created our elementary students were mainly getting science experience by reading about science. I want them to have the opportunity to experience science by engaging in the practices of real scientists. In order to do this they need to think like scientists and be fluent in the language of science--mathematics. They are ready for the challenge, but we need the materials to make this happen.
My Project
The WeatherBug Weather Station and the WeatherBug Achieve Interactive Web Tools will allow all the students that I teach (and all math classes in the building) have access to real time weather data at our school. We will be able to track and engage in scientific investigation with something that impacts their lives daily. They will be able to collect, record, interpret and analyze data regularly. These are extremely important skills that our students need to be college and career ready in all types of science and technology based positions. In addition, our students will be connected to a network of schools around the country that are also WeatherBug schools. They will have access to their data in real time. My students will have access to real time data and information on a hurricane off the coast of Florida or a heatwave in California. This is a tremendous opportunity to expand the understanding of my students about the world beyond our neighborhood and school.
The project has the potential to light the spark that will turn some of my students into our future scientists, engineers and mathematicians.
Help my students see their future as a scientist or mathematician. These materials will help them develop the ways of thinking and the skills that enable them to be successful in college and technological careers. Look for my students on TV as a weather recording station or maybe we will develop the next "Ginger Zee."
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. Beck and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
