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The Wonderful World of Weather

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The next time you hear a kid saying that school's a waste of time – asking, "When am I ever going to use this stuff?" – you might want to tell him the story of Tilly Smith:

It was a sunny day at the beach in December 2004 when 10-year-old Tilly, who was vacationing with her family in Phuket, Thailand, noticed something strange. "The water started to go funny," Tilly would later tell a reporter from the British newspaper The Sun. "There were bubbles and the tide went out all of a sudden."

A lot of tourists on the beach, including Tilly's mother, wanted to go toward the water to take a closer look. Luckily for them, Tilly had been paying attention in school that year and realized what was happening.

Tilly told her mother it looked like a tsunami was forming. Her parents alerted the staff at their nearby hotel and the beach was quickly evacuated, just minutes before the devastating wave struck. Unlike other parts of the region, where it was estimated that more than 100,000 people were killed by massive tsunami waves, no one on the beach where Tilly Smith was vacationing was killed or seriously injured.

It's clear from this amazing but factual tale that it's important for kids to pay attention in class. It's equally clear, kids will likely point out, that it's important for parents to pay attention to their children.

The Wonders of Weather
While, thankfully, most of us will never experience anything as dramatic as a tsunami, learning about the weather is important nonetheless. It's one of the most easily observed of all the sciences, and we see its effects every day. And because children of all ages are naturally interested in and intrigued by the weather, it's a wonderful way to encourage kids to explore science in meaningful and engaging ways.

"(Weather) makes a great introduction to the other sciences," says Weather Channel Meteorologist Nick Walker, "and whereas some sciences force you to think more abstractly, weather is pretty concrete." Walker, who has dubbed himself "The Weather Dude," runs an educational website (www.wxdude.com) in an effort to engage children in exploring the science of weather. "It is a science that affects us every day of our lives and has an influence on everyday decisions," he says. "In other words, weather is science in your face; you can't escape it."

Because weather is so in your face, Walker adds, it naturally arouses curiosity about its causes. "Our observations demand us to ask, 'Why?'" he says. "Everywhere we turn there's weather and thus everywhere we turn there is a 'why' question." Curiosity, any scientist will tell you, is the first step toward scientific discovery.

Kyaw Tha Paw U, a Professor of Atmospheric Science at the University of California at Davis, has been working on weather education enhancement with elementary and middle school children for over a decade. He, too, believes that weather education is extremely effective in engaging children in the study of science. It's also effective in helping them develop a strong science foundation, he adds. "There are a lot of interdisciplinary issues involved with atmospheric science," Paw U explains, citing its close relationship with physics, chemistry, biology and math as examples. Basic physics concepts such as density, convection, fluid flow, and viscosity are easily demonstrable through weather-related experiments like a tornado tube, and difficult-to-understand math concepts such as decimals and negative numbers can be reinforced by allowing children to experiment with thermometers and by discussing how temperatures often dip below zero. Many abstract concepts become more concrete through the study of weather – something children observe and are affected by on a daily basis.

There are numerous, long-term benefits to introducing young children to the study of weather. "It's good to plant the seeds at the second, third, or fourth grade levels," says Paw U, "to bring the concepts to the children when they're most inquisitive. ...Not only does it help students with atmospheric science, it helps them later on to succeed in physics, chemistry and the other basic courses that they're going to be taking to succeed in any science or even be a good citizen."

Hands-on Learning At Every Age
As with any educational concept, Paw U says, the key to engaging kids in the study of atmospheric science is to provide them with opportunities for hands-on exploration. Allow them to take and record their own measurements, and, when possible, to build their own instrumentation. He guides students as young as five years old in building "modest instrumentation from age-appropriate materials, using age-appropriate construction methods." Wind vanes, sundials, tornado tubes, and gliders in the shape of different types of clouds are all popular with his students. They also enjoy measuring surface temperatures using infrared thermometers. "It's instantaneous," he says of the fun-to-use, kid-sized thermometers. "Within one or two seconds you get the temperature, as opposed to the old and more fragile liquid and glass thermometers."

Using video technology is another effective way to bring atmospheric science to life for children of all ages. Paw U shows videos of tornados to illustrate what a vortex is before setting kids loose with their handmade tornado tubes, and Tilly Smith's teacher at Danes Hill Prep School in England showed a video of a 1946 tsunami in the Hawaiian islands before Tilly's trip to Thailand. "Sometimes I run into a student who thinks weather is boring," says Walker. "That is, until I show him a videotape of people narrowly escaping a tornado, or baseball-size hail breaking car windshields, or pictures of the damage a major hurricane can cause. If and when the light comes on that this is not special movie effects out of Hollywood, that this is real, even the most disengaged child will (become engaged)."

The Time Is Upon Us
Weather has always had a huge impact on society, and society now seems to be impacting the weather. With the widespread destruction caused by the 2004 tsunami, as well as more localized weather disasters such as Hurricane Katrina in 2005, it's becoming clear that we need to understand not only how weather works but also what we can do to minimize the destructive effects of global climate change. "In terms of climate change," says Paw U, "the concept that perhaps these severe and unusual events are developing more and causing more destruction and disruption to society and humans is a big issue." Not only is weather a great way to introduce kids to scientific inquiry and basic science concepts, but engaging them as early as possible in the study of atmospheric science just might be the key to a long and healthy future for humankind.

At discoverthis.com science kits, we make scientific discovery fun at every age. Check out some of our weather-related science kits to engage your kids in the amazing arena of atmospheric science:

Weather Education Kits:

Earthquakes, Volcanoes and Avalanches:

Solar Power and Alternative Energy:






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