Rain or shine, Snohomish High teacher Dave Weller loves the weather. And now he gets a chance to spread this love through a WeatherFest coming to Seattle next January. Weller has been selected to serve on a committee to plan the WeatherFest along with co-chairs KING TV meteorologist Jeff Renner and the warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service.
Other members of the committee include MJ McDermott, the morning meteorologist from Q13, a meteorological professor from the University of Washington, and two other teachers from the Puget Sound area.
The WeatherFest, an educational program held in conjunction with the national conference of the American Meteorological Society (AMS), will be held at the Seattle Convention Center on Sunday, January 23. The WeatherFest is geared for all ages to provide exhibits and activities to help people learn about the weather. Many booths will be geared for K-12 children. Teachers will also find resources to help with teaching weather in their classrooms. Presentations will cover a wide range of topics, such as wind farms, tidal energy, cloud identification, air pressure, the ways weather can impact the effects of toxic spills, and more.
Weller is a long term member of the AMS and was selected in 1999 to attend a two-week weather conference in Kansas City. Since then he has served as the Local Implementation Teacher (LIT) for educational outreach in Western Washington. Twice each year Weller offers 12-week courses to K-12 teachers. The partially distance-learning courses provide resources, activities, labs and demonstrations to assist teachers in teaching weather in their classrooms.
“The neat thing about weather,” Weller comments, “is that you just have to step outside and you’re in your lab. Every time you walk outside you are involved with weather. It even impacts the clothes we wear.” He uses weather all the time in his physics and chemistry classes. “There are many applications from the atmosphere that make more connections for students,” Weller notes. “I can teach about pressure and relate it to the storm that came through over the weekend.”
Weller feels his experiences with AMS have helped him be a better teacher. “I get to meet people right in the middle of things at conferences and get a new, fresh perspective on the cutting edge of science,” he says.
The WeatherFest will be geared for all ages to learn about weather phenomenon. Booths will feature activities for children and resources for teachers. Mark your calendars now for January 23, 2011, at the Seattle Convention Center.