We had a very special guest some to ur school to speak with us last week. Jeff Rucker, our local meteorologist with WAGT-26, came to talk to us about weather and weather forecasting. It was an AWESOME visit and we learned so much!
As excited as we all were, I admit that I was a little wary of his visit. Last year, we visited one of our other local stations for a field trip. The entire tour lasted less than 10 minutes. We then invited a different meteorologist to visit and the "weather talk" was so far over the kids' heads (and the teachers!) that they really didn't get anything out of it. I vowed this year to get someone to speak that the kids would enjoy, so they would really be able to learn something from the visit. Well, let me tell you, I did my homework this year, and this visit was fantastic!
Mr. Rucker talked to the kids about different kinds of weather. Did you know that raindrops are actually shaped liked pancakes? We do, thanks to Mr. Rucker!
He also brought a few weather instruments and demonstrated them for us.
That may look like a hair dryer, but for these purposes, it is an official "wind demonstration device"!
This is part of an actual weather balloon that had been deployed and found.
This is a lightning machine. It was pretty cool. We learned first hand how lightning can travel! The kids each got a turn to try it if they chose to.
This one made a little cloud! Did you know that fog is just a little cloud right near the ground?
When he added the top of the device, it made a tornado!
Here's a little video of the tornado in motion. Sorry it's sideways--I turned the camera to get a better shot. :|
Thank you, Jeff Rucker, for an awesome visit! The kids were so excited and learned so much. While watching the visit on the local news that night, I also experienced one of my proudest moments as a teacher. As he played a little video clip on the news he complimented the children on "asking good questions" and not just "sharing stories". This is something we work on all year. I was SO PROUD of some of the questions the friends asked! The visit definitely made an impression and they are very informed "Weather Watchers" now. They even remember some of the "big" words like "anemometer", "thermometer" and especially, "meteorologist"!
WOW - you all had a GREAT lesson on the weather from a Terrific visitor. I even learned from you too after reading this. I didn't know raindrops were shaped like clouds:)
ReplyDeleteThanks Deborah! It's fun when we're learning right along with the kids! :)
ReplyDeleteYou are sooo good! How awesome Mr. Rucker would take time out of his day to visit your class! You both get an "A" in my book:)
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