School district dedicates weather station to Kiwanis

Service club's donation paid for science equipment
Published: March 6, 2010 in Verde Independent
http://verdenews.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=35356

COTTONWOOD, ARIZONA - "Instead of telling kids that hot air rises, we show them it rises," said Keith Steele, science manager for C-OC. "Cottonwood-Oak Creek District is really committed to science."

That commitment recently got some help from the Clarkdale-Verde Kiwanis Club. It was the service club's grant that made the equipment for C-OC's new weather station possible.

"The Kiwanis put in $2,100," Steele said.

Some district officials joined Kiwanis members for breakfast and a dedication at 7 a.m. Thursday in the district's science building. Steele gave a presentation of how the new weather and science equipment will be used.

Superintendent Barbara U'Ren told the gathering that the district is thrilled to have the new weather station. "Our vision is for this to be our science center," she said. "This is the beginning of that."

The new science equipment is all weather related, good enough for the school district to have a fully operational weather station. "It is calibrated as a professional weather station," Steele said.

Teachers can access the data from every classroom. The weather equipment, computer software and ancillary materials and supplies will all tie in directly with curriculum. Some of it is interactive via computer, and some of it is hands on.

Lessons can be done on computer, through handouts or projects. The equipment gives air pressure, dew point, temperature, humidity and much more on current, real-time digital displays.

The new equipment will be used for all grade levels from kindergarten through eighth grade. Steele said Mingus Union High School can access the weather station.

It will be used for science, math and history. "It's important to tie weather in with history," Steele said. An example that he gave during his presentation was the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Steele said that by accessing the software at WeahterBug.com students can learn what weather conditions were likely on a given day of that historical expedition.

The district will also offer a class in weather forecasting.

Included in the package is video training for teachers. And teachers can develop their own instructional material. "Teachers can submit their own lesson plan for other teachers to use," Steele said.

Steele explained that the district only had to pay a one-time fee for the software and will not pay for updates. "The software is on their computer."

Even campus safety is included. Steele said the package includes 10 licenses for emergency weather alerts. Those will be distributed throughout the district's campuses.

Steele said this is the only such weather station in the area, the closest one being in Prescott. This weather station will be made available to the entire community through Internet links.

But the most important benefit of all this weather station equipment is what it will mean to the kids in all grade levels.

"Kids are naturally curious as to why weather happens," Steele said. "We thought we'd extend that by getting our own weather station."