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The Backyard Weather Science Curriculum: Using a Weather-Observing Network to Support Data-Intensive Issue-Based Atmospheric Inquiry in Middle and High School

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Abstract

This theoretical article proposes using statewide weather-observing networks (Mesonets) to support data-intensive, issue-based teaching of atmospheric topics in middle and high school science. It is argued that the incorporation of this new technology and its affordances into the school curriculum can drastically change the ways that atmospheric topics are taught and learned in classroom settings, from dull lectures to engaging explorations of weather phenomena with potential not only to spark in-the-moment curiosity but also long-term interest in STEM. However, this educational revolution is contingent upon the availability of instructional materials that are pedagogically sound and developmentally appropriate. School-aged students require strategic instructional design and supportive pedagogic scaffolding to pursue their curiosity feelings and develop a motivational profile that is conducive to interest in STEM (self-efficacy, outcome expectation, etc.) as well as situational awareness. In addition to articulating the theoretical underpinnings of this proposition, an account is provided of ongoing efforts to turn this cutting-edge scientific technology into a curriculum space for students to explore weather phenomena, conduct map-based inquiries, and engage in data-based deliberation in the context of real-world issues. Centered on the provision of investigative cases that are locally situated and relevant to students’ lifeworld (place), the Backyard Weather Curriculum is presented to illustrate how this can be accomplished through the adoption of a place-based approach wherein relevance serves as an essential design principle for curricular development and enactment. Such curriculum, it is argued, can help promote student development from curious explorers to inquirers with a deep epistemic interest in STEM.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Educational Theory and Practice Department, State University of New York at Albany, 1400 Washington Ave., CS 227, Albany, NY, 12222, USA

    Alandeon W. Oliveira & Amita Verma

  2. New York State Mesonet, University at Albany, SUNY, Harriman Campus - ETEC Bldg, Suite #360E, 1220 Washington Ave., Albany, NY, 12226, USA

    Junhong Wang

  3. Acadia Middle School, 970 Route 146, Clifton Park, NY, 12065, USA

    Crystal Perno

  4. Department of Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences, Western Kentucky University, 1906 College Heights Blvd, Bowling Green, KY, 42101, USA

    Jerald Brotzge

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  1. Alandeon W. Oliveira
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  2. Junhong Wang
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Correspondence to Alandeon W. Oliveira.

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Appendices

Appendix

BWS Sample Case: 1–2-3 Strikes You’re out! On our way to Cooperstown 

Grade Level

8–10

Driving Question

What causes the different weather and the movement of storms in the area?

Learning Goal

Students will use weather data to predict if the weather will affect their area.

Crosscutting Concepts/Science and Engineering Practices Addressed


Developing and using models


Analyzing and interpreting data


Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information


Patterns


Cause and effect


Stability and change

NYS Learning Standards

HS-ESS-2–8: Evaluate data and communicate information to explain how the movement and interactions of air masses result in changes in weather conditions.

Scenario

Cooperstown is home to the baseball hall of fame museum and little league baseball. Baseball players from all over the state come to play summer tournaments in Cooperstown. This is the pinnacle of a little leaguers’ career. Many teams fundraise for many months to be able to participate in such an event. Teams are given a specific week in the summer to compete in Cooperstown, ending the week with a championship game. Cooperstown is located approximately 60 miles southwest of Albany, 67 miles southeast of Syracuse, and 145 miles northwest of NYC. See the maps below. The closest Mesonet Station is Springfield NY.

A little league team has been staying in Cooperstown the week of June 27, 2022, and is scheduled to play their championship game on July 1 at 6:30 pm. There is a storm that is forecasted to pass over during the championship game. Hotels are booked months before the event, and there is no time to reschedule the game. It is 5 pm on July 1, and the organizers of Cooperstown have asked you to see if the championship game could be played safely. You are asked to use the NYS Mesonet database to determine if the game will be playable. The decision must be made at 6:10 pm. The clock is ticking (Fig. 6)!

Fig. 6
figure 6

Maps of New State showing (a) the central location of the Otsego County (in red) where Cooperstown is located and (b) an example of the NYS Mesonet dashboard temperature map, including in Springfield. Teacher notes: Through visual inspection of these maps, students will be able to see where the Mesonet Springfield station is located in NYS. Many students may not be familiar with the location of Springfield and Cooperstown. Teacher might want to have a blown-up section of Otsego County and have students locate where Cooperstown and Springfield are. Students are using the Springfield station as this station is the closest one to Cooperstown

Full size image

Cooperstown Baseball Regulations

  • The fields are made of clay and can only take on a certain amount of precipitation. This clay field can take 0.3 inches per hour of rain if the soil is dry. If there was precipitation in the past day, the field can take 0.2 inches per hour of rain.

  • Games during this tournament have a maximum time limit of 2 h. There are also no lights on the fields. For safety reasons, games will be called 30 min after sunset.

  • If lightning is seen, the game is delayed 30 min from the last strike of lightning.

Your Task

Your mission is to help the Cooperstown little league directors and make an educated decision to see if the forecasted storm will impact the championship game. You will be using radar imagery and the NYS Mesonet data.

Phase 1: Explore

This initial phase of the lesson is aimed at setting the stage for learning by peaking students’ interest and inspiring a “need to know.” To this end, students watch a video of an approaching storm, are given the background of the Cooperstown tournament, and are introduced to the task (the scenario above). Working in small groups, students then brainstorm questions, possible questions that they need to research to help the Little League Director. These may include:

  1. 1.

    What time is the storm coming?

  2. 2.

    Will the storm hit Cooperstown?

  3. 3.

    Which direction is the storm coming from?

  4. 4.

    How fast is the storm moving?

  5. 5.

    How much precipitation will occur?

  6. 6.

    Will there be thunderstorms?

  7. 7.

    What is the weather like west of Cooperstown?

  8. 8.

    When does the sun rise and set on Jul 1st, 2022?

Teacher Notes

Students need to decide on the specific data (numerical/images) they will need to examine in order to complete their task. The teacher facilitates a discussion about important parameters (day, time, geographical location, types of measurements), helping them recognize the need to explore a location west of Cooperstown during the day/time leading up to the game.

Phase 2: Explore

After obtaining the decided weather data from NYS Mesonet, students now explore radar images and analyze measurements (examples are provided below). With the teacher’s guidance, students construct tentative ideas or explanations (Figs. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14).

Fig. 7
figure 7

Map of New State showing 3-h weather summary. Teacher notes: Through visual inspection, students should be able to see the arrows showing the direction of the wind. Students will be able to see the radar data and current dewpoint temperatures 30 min prior to the game. Teachers should help students by asking them to recall planetary winds and where the storm will move next due to the planetary winds. Teacher should also help students realize a high dewpoint, meaning there is a lot of water vapor in the air. Teacher should ask students where they think the storm will move next and what evidence from the map do they have to support this claim

Full size image
Fig. 8
figure 8

Map of New State taken at 6:03 pm showing the radar report. Teacher notes: Through visual inspection, students should be able to see on the radar imagery that a big storm is occurring west of Cooperstown. Teachers should help students by asking where the storm will move next. Students should understand that the darker red colors mean an intense storm

Full size image
Fig. 9
figure 9

Zoomed in portion of the NYS map that shows the students where the intense part of the storm is. Teacher notes: Through visual inspection, students should be able to see where the strongest part of the storm is. Teacher should help students by asking students what they think the difference in colors of the radar map represents. Teacher should make sure the students know the red and orange zones are areas of intense rain

Full size image
Fig. 10
figure 10

Map of New State zoomed in showing the storm near Courtland NY at 6:03 pm. Teacher notes: Through visual inspection, students should be able to see that the storm is more intense around Courtland. Teacher should ask students to compare the maps of Courtland and Chenango. Teachers should help students see that Chenango is west of Courtland and has not received the intense rain. Teacher should ask students what time they think the storm will hit Chenango

Full size image
Fig. 11
figure 11

Map of New State showing the radar of Courtland at 6:12 pm. Teacher notes: Through visual inspection, students should be able to see that 9 min later, the storm has moved west. Teachers should help students locate the most intense part of the storm; from 6:03 map, it was centered around Cincinnatus, and on the 6:12 map, the most intense part of the storm was centered around Phoenicia. Teacher should have students measure the distance between these two cities and then calculate the rate of movement of the storm

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Fig. 12
figure 12

Sky pictures showing atmospheric conditions at the NYS Mesonet station of Springfield. Teacher notes: Through visual inspection, students should be able to see that there is a storm in the upper left-hand corner of the 6:00 pm image. Teachers should help students by pointing out the cloud formation in the upper left-hand corner

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Fig. 13
figure 13

Maps of New State showing a the location of Warsaw (in red) a nearby town where another Mesonet station is located and b the Mesonet station of Warsaw circled

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Fig. 14
figure 14

Sky pictures showing atmospheric conditions at Warsaw. Teacher notes: Through visual inspection of these images, students should be able to see that the wind has picked up by the moving rectangles of the precipitation gauge. This is only to get a visual understanding of the storm that occurred an hour before the storm that will hit Cooperstown. Teacher notes: Through visual inspection, students should be able to see that the wind picks up between 5:20 pm and 5:35 pm with maximum wind gusts at 5:40 pm. The precipitation from the storm occurs between 5:25 and 5:45 pm. Teachers should help students by asking them to note the change in wind speed and how much rain fall occurred

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Phase 3: Explain

In this phase of the lesson, the teacher provides “direct instruction” (or “review”) of skills/concepts/terms (fronts, air masses, atmospheric variables). Students are taught specific skills/concepts, misconceptions are addressed, and an essential vocabulary is taught, such as radar, satellite, dewpoint, relative humidity, planetary winds, air mass, fronts, and atmosphere.

Phase 4: Elaborate

This phase is designed to allow students to practice/apply the “new” or “reviewed” skills/concepts. To this end, students are prompted to go back to the previously explored forecast, radar imagery, Mesonet camera images, and data charts and determine what weather can be expected for Cooperstown during the evening of July 1 2022 (6–9 pm) by applying the concepts learned in the Explain phase. Students are also prompted to answer questions such as:

  1. 1.

    How fast is the storm moving and which direction? Explain how you derived your answer?

  2. 2.

    When does the sun rise and set on July 1, 2022?

  3. 3.

    Should the championship game start at 6:30 pm?

  4. 4.

    What are multiple pieces of evidence that can support your claim?

  5. 5.

    What is your scientific reasoning?

Phase 5: Evaluate

In this final phase, student understanding and mastery are assessed. To this end, students are provided with the following prompt:

  • “The next day, you are asked to meet with the little league coordinators to debrief on your decision. You are asked to look at the weather data from the storm (below) that passed over Cooperstown on July 1, 2022 and to indicate whether your decision about the baseball gale was correct or not, and to explain why. The purpose of this meeting is to educate the directors and help predict the weather for future games.”

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Oliveira, A.W., Wang, J., Perno, C. et al. The Backyard Weather Science Curriculum: Using a Weather-Observing Network to Support Data-Intensive Issue-Based Atmospheric Inquiry in Middle and High School. J Sci Educ Technol 32, 181–210 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-022-10021-0

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