The Bridge between Educators, Students, and Researchers

Empowering Students in the Science Community- Creating spaces for students to envision themselves as scientists. Their scientific work is not just a part of the classroom, but a valuable contribution to the scientific community.

Local Phenomena-Based Curriculum 

We are lucky to have a Davis Weather Station at our City Heights Prep campus provided by

Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Just installed last year, my now 7th grade was a part of the installation process, but we had little time to utilize the weather station as it was

towards the end of the year. Fortunately, this year, sixth grade began their weather and climate unit with the weather station as the focus and driver for the entire unit. The goal was to have students collect, compare, and analyze weather data to understand San Diego’s climate patterns better. I continue to emphasize that our campus is a climate data site, and

how we look at our weather data is similar to how researchers analyze data. 

To begin this unit, we received guidance from a climate science graduate student from

Scripps who goes by 'Sandu' (sic). Sandu introduced the concept of student weather diaries in which students would spend time each day collecting weather in a notebook. Sandu provided a Glossary of Terms, a Record of Observations Table, and an introductory Weather Diary lesson, using the five senses as the lens through which to collect the data.  Students enjoyed spending time outside and silently recording their weather observations, finishing each collection with a sketch. This data collection was a meditative experience for my students and a method to connect with the outdoors. 

To further refine the weather diary process, I created several accessibility resources for my students. Including a robust Weather Diary Toolkit to provide language support for my Emerging Bilingual students. The toolkit includes visuals for the five senses, types of weather, and extreme weather events. Additionally, the toolkit includes sentence starters and Costa’s Level 3 question stems to support students in making their weather predictions. Additionally, to eliminate any confusion, I designed the notebooks to include a table of contents, labeling and numbering all resources and weather entries. Lastly, students collected the weather data using the same template to help structure their thinking in four categories- Senses, Weather Descriptors, Weather Predictions, and  Sketch. 

Once we collected the weather diary data, we returned to the classroom. At this point, one student would volunteer to be the “weather person” to read data off our weather station info center. Students would record these data points in the observation table records. Students would compare data points from the weather station provided and their observations. By the end, students became experts at predicting the weather and humidity levels. They would also ask questions, like Why is today’s AQI worse than yesterday's? The students ' investments in their local data followed discussions on what they believed to be the causes of today’s AQI.

To wrap up this unit, students graphed the collected weather data. Students explored observations of data patterns and continued their development of making weather predictions using said data. Additionally, we looked at historical weather data, extracted from NOAA, to investigate the change in weather patterns provided by the Lindberg Field Weather station.  Students noticed the difference in average temperatures at our site in City Heights compared to areas closer to the coast.  They also observed the general increase in temperatures overall.  Finally, students created a Climate Change infographic as their cumulative project for this unit, showcasing their understanding of changing weather patterns, human impact, and solutions to mitigate climate change. 

One-of-a-Kind Field Trip Connecting Directly to Our Curriculum 

I wanted my students to participate in a weather balloon launch to further engage them in

their weather research. Our relationship with Scripps Institution of Oceanography made this unforgettable field trip possible. The researchers at Scripps Institution introduced the equipment and the purpose of the weather balloon launch. A couple of students volunteered to launch

the balloon off the pier, and we all watched in anticipation as the graphs changed in correspondence to Integrated Water Vapor (IWV), Integrated Water Vapor Transport (IVT), and Freezing Level. We later used sondehub.org  to track our balloons and discovered they had landed in Santa Yzabel / Mesa Grande near Henshaw. 

The day concluded with a fun self-guided exploration at the Birch Aquarium, made

possible by Birch Aquarium’s scholarship funding. This unique and educationally rich experience was an extraordinary field trip, and my students voted it the best field trip of the year! 

Student Testimonials -Students' Sense of Contribution to the Scientific Community-

 I asked students about their favorite parts of the field trip were and how it felt to contribute to the scientific community. Their responses were a testament to their sense of pride and inspiration. 

“Seeing all the new animals like the penguins and weather balloon launch was cool.  Because I got to see like in how they collect data you do something like that again where you work with scientists. “ - L.W. 

“It was good. I remember seeing like a lot of cool animals and how like the bridge where we released the ballooned and how we like kept calculating how high until it burst.  I felt really excited but nervous on the beach.  Because the balloons were really high up. And the balloon was going higher, so like I imagined myself on the balloon.”  R.O.

“It was really fun. I was hanging with my friends. The part about releasing the balloon, it was awesome. Because the sky is an experiment about the climate, about the weather, it was it was really, like, really cool. I love it a lot. Yes, it was interesting about it.? I want to do it too.” K.V.

The Vital Role of Community in Education 

Nothing is better than having your middle school science students authentically engage with the local science community. One of my greatest achievements as an

educator was watching my students scream with excitement as they launched their weather balloon over the most outstanding Scripps Pier, hosted by the wonderful scientists at Scripps Pier Institute. This moment would not have been a reality without the communal effort between local scientists, me, and my students. As I deepen my teaching practice, I realize that the “ it takes a village”  approach is best for fostering our students’ curiosity and confidence in STEM. My most important goal as a science teacher is to help students envision themselves as scientists. I want to show my students that their scientific work is not just a part of the classroom but a valuable contribution to the scientific community.

About Rachel Davey M.Ed

Rachel Davey is a Middle School Science and AP Human Geography teacher at City Heights Prep. She has a Master's in Education and is pursuing a Doctoral degree in Educational Leadership at UCSD. You can register for one of Rachel Davey’s courses or other courses hosted by amazing teachers across San Diego County,  at UCSD’s Young Scholars Program (elementary- high school). Feel free to contact Rachel Davey for the weather diary resources at rdavey@cityheightsprep.org