A tenet of my teaching philosophy is that failure IS an option; mistakes are an invaluable part of learning. Education often is not linear. It is through the process of recursive inquiry -- observation, exploration, analysis, and evaluation -- that meaningful learning takes place.
My fifth graders are inquisitive, inventive, and persistent.
Science is the perfect medium for students to investigate their emerging interests while at the same time learning to work collaboratively with peers to solve problems and develop theories. I firmly believe that students learn best through direct experiences. This is especially true in science education, where students are challenged with making sense of the world around them.
My school was recently named an Oklahoma Green School in recognition of the efforts of staff and students to reduce energy consumption, recycle, and preserve the environment. My students take great pride in improving their school and community. I believe that this project will add to their sense of school and community identity and serve as a source of continuing pride for all students.
My Project
I am requesting a weather station that measures temperature, wind speed and gusts, rainfall, dew point, humidity, barometric pressure, and wind direction in real time. All data can be monitored on the included receiver and is logged through software. Students in all grades will have access to the weather station and the data it collects. I anticipate that this data will be shared with students through our daily student television news broadcast and monthly student newspaper. I hope to also make data accessible to the community through the Internet.
Fifth graders will use the weather station to observe and measure daily atmospheric conditions. We will use the data to analyze weather patterns, create forecasts, and establish a climate record at our school to reveal long-term changes and patterns. The weather station will be central to a cross-curricular unit in science and math, with students learning about weather and climate as well as data analysis, graphing, and probability.
A weather station allows students to directly participate in the scientific process through both observation and data collection and analysis.
In this way, students are not passively researching weather data from a distant location, but instead actively monitoring live data streamed directly from a school-based weather station located no more than 100 feet away.
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