EAST MEETS WEST CENTRAL PARK MIDDLE SCHOOL

SCHENECTADY, NEW YORK

MEETS

CHARLES T. KRANZ INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL

EL MONTE, CALIFORNIA

A NASA EXPLORER SCHOOL JOINT COLLOBORATION SCIENCE INQUIRY

Abstract/Intro/Background/Significance

East Meets West

East Meets West will be a problem-based science inquiry investigation between two NASA Explorer Schools. One school will be in Schenectady, New York and the second school will be in El Monte, California. This investigation has been designed using scientific inquiry so students will be able to develop and answer questions regarding differences in climate, temperature, precipitation, time of sunrise and sunset, phases of the moon, moonrise and moonset, conditions of the sky, vegetation, and seasonal differences between two coastlines. Data will be collected and recorded by students from both schools and will be entered and shared through the GLOBE program. Students in this project will be 6th, 7th, and 8th grade in a science club. The schools will have a weather station set up with the proper calibrated tools to gather, record, analyze and interpret data. Both schools are equipped with video conferencing equipment and students can see, talk, and share data with each other. They will be able to describe and explain their findings. Each school will email pictures taken from a digital camera of the surrounding community, vegetation, sky, cloud coverage, sun, moon, attire, and recreational activities.

Question/Hypothesis

1. What type of weather patterns are visible in Schenectady, New York and in El Monte, California?

2. What is the climate of these locations?

3. What seasonal changes happen in these cities?

4. What are the sources that affect the climate in each city?

5. What are the patterns/changes/relationships in the Sunrise and Sunset times, Moonrise and Moonset times, cloud cover, relative humidity, daily air and soil temperature readings (minimum and maximum), and recorded precipitation?

6. What vegetation thrives in each climate?

7. How does weather affect students recreational activities? What seasonal recreational activities do the students participate in?

8. How does the weather affect what clothing students wear?

National Science Content Standards

1. Water, which covers the majority of the earth's surface, circulates through the crust, oceans, and atmosphere in what is known as the "water cycle." Water evaporates from the earth's surface, rises and cools as it moves to higher elevations, condenses as rain or snow, and falls to the surface where it collects in lakes, oceans, soil, and in rocks underground.

2. Clouds, formed by the condensation of water vapor, affect weather and climate.

3. Global patterns of atmospheric movement influence local weather. Oceans have a major effect on climate, because water in the oceans holds a large amount of heat.

Methods & Materials• Rain Gauge

• Digital Thermometer

• Digital Weather Station

• Digital Camera/Tripod

• Internet Informational/Data Website

• Videoconferencing Equipment

• Computers

Camera UsageStudents will photograph:

1. Sky

2. Clouds

3. Sun

4. Moon

5. Vegetation

6. Clothing

7. Seasonal Changes

8. Recreational Activities

Data TransformationStudents from our schools will be able to gather, analyze, interpret, and critically evaluate:

• Weather patterns

• climates

• seasonal changes

• sources that affect the climate

• Sunrise and Sunset times, Moonrise and Moonset times, cloud cover, relative humidity, daily air and soil temperature readings, and recorded precipitation

• vegetation vitality in each climate

• weather affect on recreational activities

• the affect that weather has on what clothing students wear

Danielle Hartkern-New York, Alice Shum & Haile Ucbagaber-California

NASA EXPLORER SCHOOLS