Richard Jones, University of Hawai'i at West O'ahu October 25, 2017 But Can I Use This On Monday Morning? Adapting Professional Development Curriculum in Atmospheric Science for Immediate Use in the Classroom Richard Jones, University of Hawai'i at West O'ahu October 25, 2017

Following participation in the Project Atmosphere Professional Development at the National Weather Service Training Center in Kansas City, MO, and the surrounding area I was eager to use several of the modules and activities with my Earth Science and Meteorology students. The activity described in this presentation: The Atmosphere in the Vertical, focuses on understanding the vertical cross section of the atmosphere based on data obtained via radiosonde carried aloft by a weather balloon.

AMS Project Atmosphere, The Atmosphere in Vertical, Original Question: The following data were measured by a radiosonde at Green Bay, WI at 12Z 23 January 2011 (6 am CST on 23 January): Pressure (mb) Temperature (C) 100 –51.1 200 –47.7 300 –57.3 400 –42.9 500 –31.3 700 –19.1 850 –21.5 1000 (surface) –21.7 R.Weinbeck, 2011 Plot these data points on the Figure 1, Stüve diagram. Connect adjacent points with dashed straight line segments or solid lines of contrasting color.

NOAA, 2017 Plot of original question showing thinner Troposphere at Green Bay for this date.

While the activity was engaging and helped the students understand how the atmosphere at any one time can vary from the “Standard Atmosphere”, the question was not relevant to them since most of my students have no personal history with Green Bay, WI other than a link to the “Packers”. This got me thinking about my own teaching and how I would like to modify the activity by finding data that would make this activity more place-based and relevant to my students (Buxton and Provenzo, 2011; Apple, Lemus and Semken, 2014).

Upper-air observational data are collected twice every 24 hours at nearly 100 North American stations. Accessed from: Upper Air Soundings, University of Wyoming

AMS Project Atmosphere, The Atmosphere in Vertical, First Modification Question: The following data were measured by a radiosonde at Lihue, HI at 12Z 10 September 2012 (2 am HST on 10 September): Pressure (mb) Temperature (C) 100 –67.3 200 –56.7 300 –33.9 400 –17.9 500 – 6.7 700 6.6 850 13.8 1016 (surface) 25.0 http://airports.hawaii.gov Plot these data points on the Figure 1, Stüve diagram. Connect adjacent points with dashed straight line segments or solid lines of contrasting color.

http://radiosondemuseum.org Plot of first revised question showing thicker Troposphere at Lihue for this date.

Like the original version of the activity, this modification was engaging to the students and helped them understand how the atmosphere at any one time can vary from the “Standard Atmosphere”. This version was relevant to them since most of my students are familiar with Lihue. I could have used Hilo for the data, however, Lihue is less than half the distance from our campus than Hilo. In the spring of 2013, the question from students became, does the Troposphere’s thickness vary with Latitude?

AMS Project Atmosphere, The Atmosphere in Vertical, Second Modification Question: Upper-air observational data are collected twice every 24 hours at nearly 100 stations in the US. The following data were measured by a radiosonde at Lihue, HI (PHLI) at 12Z 13 October 2013 (2 am HST on 13 October) and at Barrow, AK (PABR) at 12Z 13 October 2013 (3 am AST on 13 October). Plot these data points on the Figure 1, Stüve diagram. Connect adjacent points with dashed straight line segments or solid lines of contrasting color.

Troposphere at Barrow for this date. https://www.earthmagazine.org Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility (2012) Plot of second revised question showing thicker Troposphere at Lihue and thinner Troposphere at Barrow for this date.

These profiles illustrate the general relationship between average tropospheric temperature and the vertical extent of the troposphere; that is, the (warmer) (colder) the troposphere, the thinner it is. This relationship means that on the average, on a global scale, and demonstrated through the two stations that you plotted, the thickness of the troposphere (increases) (decreases) as the latitude increases. In other words, on average the troposphere is (thicker) (thinner) the closer your geographical location is to the equator and is (thicker) (thinner) the closer your geographical location is to the pole.

Students drove one more modification of this activity by posing the question. What would a mid-latitude station look like for the same date and time? “So, yes we accept that the atmosphere in the tropics is thicker and the polar regions is thinner, but what about half way between?” I asked them to predict and then we looked at the data for that date. The following semester I added mid-latitude data to the activity.

AMS Project Atmosphere, The Atmosphere in Vertical, Third Modification Question: Upper-air observational data are collected twice every 24 hours at nearly 100 stations in the US. The following data were measured by a radiosonde at Lihue, HI (PHLI) at 12Z 08 February 2014 (2 am HST on 8 February), at Salem, OR (SLE) at 12Z 08 February 2014 (4 am PST on 8 February), and at Barrow, AK (PABR) at 12Z 08 February 2014 (3 am AST on 8 February). Plot these data points on the Figure 1, Stüve diagram. Connect adjacent points with dashed straight line segments or solid lines of contrasting color.

at Barrow, AK for this date. http://www.kptv.com/ Balloon Launch at Salem, OR Plot of third revised question showing Tropical (thicker) Troposphere at Lihue, HI, mid-latitude Temperate Troposphere at Salem, OR and (Polar (thinner) Troposphere at Barrow, AK for this date.

While the initial activity was in a form that I was able to “use on Monday morning”, it went through multiple revisions driven by student questions and my desire to make the activity more place-based and relevant for my students. Most recently the only changes to the activity are related to updating the radiosonde data for each new semester making this a continually useful activity, adapted from materials presented during Professional Development Curriculum in Atmospheric Science.

AMS Project Atmosphere, The Atmosphere in Vertical, Third Modification Question: Upper-air observational data are collected twice every 24 hours at nearly 100 stations in the US. The following data were measured by a radiosonde at Lihue, HI (PHLI) at 12Z 25 September 2017 (2 am HST on 25 September), at Salem, OR (SLE) at 12Z 25 September 2017 (4 am PST on 25 September), and at Barrow, AK (PABR) at 12Z 25 September 2017 (3 am AST 25 September). Plot these data points on the Figure 1, Stüve diagram. Connect adjacent points with dashed straight line segments or solid lines of contrasting color.

Plot of most recent revision of the question showing Tropical (thicker) Troposphere at Lihue, HI, mid-latitude Temperate Troposphere at Salem, OR and (Polar (thinner) Troposphere at Barrow, AK for this date.

Student Comments: “it's a little difficult to grasp but the hands on activities really helped.” (fall 2015) “interesting, and relevant” (fall 2015) “He has many diverse ways of getting the students to learn and comprehend the material, such as using hands-on activities.” (fall 2015) “There are things I learned in this course that I will remember for a long time, not just for the tests.” (spring 2015)

Acknowledgements MSI-REaCH is funded by NSF through grant ICER-1443178 and is a collaboration between the Consortium for Ocean Leadership, the American Meteorological Society, James Madison University, Los Angeles Valley College, North Hennepin Community College, Ohio State University, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, University of Texas at El Paso, and WestEd My mentor Dr. Megan Jones, the American Meteorological Society for providing the initial Professional Development, My students at the University of Hawai'i at West O'ahu in GEOL 122 and MET 101 for encouraging the changes to the original lesson.

References: Buxton, C., & Provenzo, E. (2011). Placed-Based Science Teaching and Learning: 40 Activities for K-8 Classrooms. Introduction to Place-Based Science Teaching and Learning, pp 1-26. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/40684_intro.pdf Retrieved 08/28/17 Apple, J., Lemus, J., and Semken, S. (2014). Teaching Geoscience in the Context of Culture and Place, Journal of Geoscience Education, 62, pp 1-4. http://nagt-jge.org/doi/full/10.5408/1089-9995-62.1.1?code=gete-site Retrieved 07/10/17