By Amelia Lang and Carolyn Parker
Through sun and storms, the students at BSSC spent the first week of July dialed into weather. Aptly titled Day to Day, our third week focused on the importance of daily weather observations. Our “budding meteorologist” recorded information on precipitation, wind, clouds, sea temperatures and air temperature daily, collaborating to build a thorough data set. Inspired by historical weather logs from ships, we discussed the value of collecting long term weather data to determining changes in climate.
Through the lens of weather observations, we dove into the elements that make up weather. From building cloudfinders and windsocks to visualizing global currents and the water cycle, this week was full of crafts, games, and opportunities to practice being a scientist!
On Thursday, we were joined by Captain George Messner from the US Navy to discuss his experiences with extreme weather phenomena, and he even brought in a thunderstorm! Despite the crummy weather, our students used the storm as an opportunity to apply their knowledge of clouds and wind.
At the end of the week, our “future meteorologist” drew on their experiences from the week to create their own weather presentations. From detailed graphs to comedy skits, students synthesized the weather data collected throughout the week and made predictions with their own creative flair. Their most exciting forecast for next week? More fun at the BSSC!
We had a great week three of boating at BSSC. The weather cooperated for the most part and we were able to get out in all our boats. Throughout the week, kids rowed, kayaked, got out on our Turnabouts, Sonars and Precision-15. One morning we did run into some fog that kept us shoreside leaving our sailors to work on their knots, rigging, and de-rigging skills. We also had to come in early one afternoon as the radar showed an approaching storm – making it inside just before the rain and thunder. We also launched and sailed our “new to us” Rhodes 19, that was donated to BSSC during the winter. It is a welcome addition to the fleet as it allows for more kids to get out in bigger boats on days when it is too windy for our smaller boats. Sailors also spent time onshore learning about wind and how the cycle of hot air rising and cool air sinking creates wind, how we measure wind in knots instead of mph, as well as how to determine the strength of the wind based on how the water looks. For example, glassy water means very little to no wind, white caps mean a lot of wind, and ripples mean the perfect amount of wind for what we want to do at BSSC. Sailors also discussed the physics of sailing and how the sail creates lift and push based on the position of your boat and sail relative to the wind. A favorite fun fact is that a sail acts very similar to a wing and that we had the technology and knowledge long before airplanes were created, we just did not realize it. Friday ended with our weekly cookout with lots of families attending for the July 4th holiday. With a smaller number of students in the afternoon due to the holiday we rowed and kayaked to Perch Island where we enjoyed swimming, tide pooling, and crab racing before heading back to the Center to wrap up the week.
