Arduino Weather Sensors
Arduino is the popular open-source electronics prototyping platform based on easy-to-use hardware and software. It’s intended for artists, designers, hobbyists and anyone interested in creating interactive objects or environments and is designed to be as flexible as possible to fit your project’s needs.
We are pleased to announce the following districts have chosen to participate in the Dow Digital Science Center Weather Station Project.
Lake Quinault Schools
Millington Community Schools
Montrose Community Schools
Parma Community Schools
The Dow Digital Science Center is adapting this versatile technology to collect data and allow for comparison and analysis studies to be completed that were not previously available. Working with Vernier Sensor units, students are being given the technology to connect wireless sensors to an Arduino microcomputer and start collecting data using state of the art database technology provided by Alma College and The Dow Foundation.
Arduino is the popular open-source electronics prototyping platform based on easy-to-use hardware and software. It’s intended for artists, designers, hobbyists and anyone interested in creating interactive objects or environments and is designed to be as flexible as possible to fit your project’s needs.
Currently we are exploring the possibilities of deploying units to local schools and have them be able to collect and store data on the Dow Digital Science Center Servers. We are also adapting some arduinos to work with our on campus hexoskin suites to allow for more features and functionality for this project.
From the classic Arduino R3, to the new Arduino Certified Intel Galileo Development Board, Arduino has a large and diverse line of products that Adafruit carries and supplements with our diverse line of boards and packs. For beginners, check out the Adafruit ARDx or Adafruit Starter Pack. For more advanced users, check out their line of project packs like the SousViduino – an open source, do-it-yourself project that contains everything you need to turn your rice cooker into a Sous Vide.
Take a look at the Arduino weather data from some schools across the country. See their data sets and use them in your classrooms for lesson plans. Interested in tracking weather data of your own? We’d love to collaborate with you, too!
Arduino Yun Weather Stations
These units were commissioned by the Dow digital Science Center to collect the following data. This includes, but is not limited to the following temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, wind speed and light levels of any environment they encounter.
How Does it Help Students?
So glad you asked! First of all it allows students to focus on data collection versus how to collect the data. Using state-of-the-art sensors allow students participating in the Dow Digital Science Center to access the data in real time allowing them instant access to not only their school’s data but other schools’ as well across the country.
Then students are allowed to compare and contrast their unit’s data and other schools’ in their state or across the country. This allows teachers more time to show students, core STEM concepts such as graphing, comparing and correlating data and last but not least, focus on using the data instantly for more concepts to be learned than before by not having to make up new data sets. This powerful classroom tool uses state-of-the-art database technology to allow teachers access to new real-time data while in class or to compare their classes data to other schools. So on a daily basis, teachers have new real-time data and graphs charts and other in class assignments can be modified instantly for teachers to use and reuse again and again.
How do I participate?
If you’d like to participate, simply fill out the collaborative project request form to get started — it’s as easy as that!
But do I have to make all new worksheets?
Absolutely not. Another benefit of using this data repository is having a pool of teachers working together to create content for the website allowing teachers to share resources and not have to duplicate lesson plans. By cooperating in the program, they can save valuable lesson plan time focusing on new concepts and modifying concepts for their classrooms only. Instead of reinventing each lesson as previously required.