Pink Hill Elementary has installed a new Atlas Weather Station and four displays for our 2nd-grade classrooms, as well as an Access unit for remote monitoring for our 5th-grade classrooms.
In 2nd grade, the science curriculum wants students to be able to understand and explain the patterns of weather and the various factors that can affect weather patterns. Students are using the AcuRite wireless weather station to monitor daily temperatures, both high and low, as well as precipitation, wind speed and direction. They have access to a colorful display in each 2nd-grade classroom, as well as the app on their iPads.
In 5th grade, our classroom has been transformed into an extensive weather platform that will give our 5th-grade students accurate information about the weather in our own backyard. We can watch our AcuRite weather system outside our classroom window, as well as inside our classroom on a colorful display. Students are also able to access the information by using the AcuRite app on their iPads.
We will watch daily the powerful weather readings as well as patterns and weather trends that link us to the rest of the world. We will use this school weather station to become weather experts and share our information with our family and friends. Also, we want to use our weather skills to enter the Science Olympiad and STEM Design Challenge this year.
The weather system allows us to monitor indoor and outdoor conditions such as: weather forecasts, barometric pressure, wind speed, air temperature, humidity, rainfall etc. Every year in the 5th-grade science curriculum, an entire 9-week period is devoted to weather because it is one of the hardest for students to grasp. Students now have the hands-on tools and equipment in the classroom to determine and track weather, thus strengthening their understanding of weather concepts. This will be helpful since they must have the knowledge to understand weather instruments and global weather patterns to pass the North Carolina End-of-Grade Science test for 5th-grade.
Aaron Murdock (2nd-grade teacher) and Betsy Mercer (5th-grade teacher) – Pink Hill Elementary