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Weather or not
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Windsor Middle School sixth-graders pose next to the weather station monitor. The school recently added a weather station on the roof and the students learn about different weather readings, condition and tools throughout the year.
From left: Amanda Ricketson, Mikayla Hunolt, Zachary Oelschlager and Liz Demaske.
Jennifer Moore
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Jennifer Moore, (Bio) jmoore@mywindsornow.com
May 2, 2008
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If you are looking for current weather conditions in Windsor, look no farther than the Windsor Middle School Web site.
Type in www.windsor.k12.co.us/wms.htm and there you will find current weather readings, as well as a web cam looking out west toward the mountains and a weather map detailing the conditions around the United States.
With help from Windsor-Severance Re-4 district staff, businesses around town and other community members, a weather station was purchased for $7,000 and then mounted to the roof of the middle school during the summer. A wireless router communicates the information from the station to a computer inside the building and then the weather readings, which are combined with the national weather data from NOAA (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration), are displayed on a large monitor in the hallway of the middle school for all students and staff to see. Community members can access Windsor's weather from anywhere in the world, as long as they are connected to the Internet.
"We wanted to bring something that was a little more tangible to the kids, and something they can get their hands on," said Tom Osborne, middle school science teacher, who worked on the project with fellow science teacher Brent Carmichael.
"Our goal is for long-term memory," Osborne added. "Our science CSAPs (Colorado Student Assessment Program) are not for sixth and seventh grade. They have to retain it until eighth grade. We are looking for ways to keep it a prevalent part of their memory, and weather is something they need to know for a lifetime."
The middle school science curriculum has the students studying meteorology, and the weather station helps collect accurate anemometer readings of wind speed, direction and average speed as well as temperature, barometric pressure, heat index, humidity, dew point and rain gauge readings. The software used can also track trends and record weather over the course of the year, and the middle school technology classes produce spreadsheets and graphs for a better understanding.
"We are excited about it," Osborne said. "It has a lot of potential."
Middle school sixth-grader Amanda Ricketson said she likes to read the temperature from the hall monitor every day.
"I'll know if I need a jacket or something else," Amanda, 12, said. "Weather is very important because it's something you see every day."
Amanda's classmate Mikayla Hunolt uses the weather station for after-school activities.
"For after-school sports, I like to see how I need to dress out," Mikayla, 12, said.
Osborne said the weather station would not be running if it weren't for Beverly Meyer and Scott Miller from Broomfield Heights Middle School, who presented a similar weather station from their school and then helped with the implementation in Windsor. Middle school parent Tom Schmerge helped set up the software program, and the district's technology department helped connect Windsor and the rest of the world by linking the weather station to the Web site.
The weather station was also funded with help from Great Western Development, Water Valley, Wal-Mart, Light-Speed Color LLC and Edward Jones.
"This turned into a more involved project," Osborne said. "I had a lot of people that helped."
Breakout- For more
Visit www.windsor.k12.co.us/wms.htm to view current Windsor weather conditions.
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