This curriculum begins with students collecting their own weather data, such as wind speed and direction, cloud observation, or tests for acid rain or snow. Distinctive features of the project include classroom learning that includes peer coaching and information exchange world-wide with a variety of connectivity levels and local customization by teachers and students at each site. Phase 2 Students work to become local experts via a 2-week coordinated data collection period. The focus is on sharing of knowledge, and discussions of what one has learned. Throughout the entire period, there are hands on classroom experiments and demonstrations, on-line activities using BlueSkies and the Web, and suggestions for interdisciplinary activities.
Students correspond via email and message boards available as Web-pages.
These boards are organized by content group and cluster group to keep the number of messages per board to a manageable level. Each message board has one or 2 mentors assigned to it, and they are encouraged to initiate discussions with the students. Included in the curriculum are instructions on how to build some basic weather equipment, such as rain gauges and a simple barometer. Many schools consult the Weather Channel, newspapers, TV news, and, of course, the Internet, for data they cannot collect themselves. Another data source is the StormGod service, which provides a daily forecast via email.