Andover High School Joins WeatherBug Network

Last spring, Earth Networks installed a new weather station and web cam on the roof of Andover High School signaling the arrival of Andover Public Schools as member of the national WeatherBug network of schools and organizations.  

Screenshot of AHS online data display taken from the WeatherBug site

Attached to the Andover High Weather station is a web cam pointed to the field below and the sky above West Middle School.  The image is refreshed a few times a minute and both day long and month long time lapse images can be viewed.  High school students frequent the permanent weather data display in the science department to check on radar images, weather conditions, and forecasts in preparation for their afternoon and weekend activities

AHS webcam view of the sky above West Middle School

      Along with the weather station equipment, lifetime access to WeatherBug online educational resources was acquired for all 10 of Andover’s public schools.  This access includes use of the WeatherBug Achieve web resources, a rich collection of tutorials, videos, maps, lessons, and other curriculum resources designed for different grade levels for use in all subject areas.  Many of the Achieve lessons integrate live data from the Andover station.

      For example, the graph below compares temperature vs relative humidity and begs the question of how one might explain the shapes of shapes and possible connections between the lines on this graph.  A variety of math lessons are possible with these graphs as well.

       Another example of a useful learning resource is the Lewis and Clark Weather Portal, an archive of journal reports including weather conditions recorded during the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804-1806.  These journal entries can be used in a social studies or history course

Excerpt from Lewis and Clark journal of September 8, 1805

     Joining the WeatherBug network and gaining access to the Achieve resources was made possible by a $20,000 grant from ACE, the Andover Coalition for Education.  Because the data from the station is accessible by anyone online, this grant serves not only Andover's students and but anyone with access to the internet.  And don't be surprised to see data and images from Andover's station pop up during WBZ-TV's weather forecasts.

     Andover’s Weatherbug station data can be accessed by anyone by visiting www.weatherbug.com and entering 01810.  There's even an Weatherbug app for your phone or computer.  Check it out !