Lesson Overview#

Grade: Grade 8 | High School

Keywords: Weather Forecasting, WRF

Estimated Time: 40 - 45 Minutes

NGSS Standards Addressed

Middle School

High School

MS - ESS2-5

HS - ESS2-4

MS - ESS2-6

HS - ESS3-5

Weather Forecasting#

The weather plays a critical role in every aspect of human life. Hence, scientists have made efforts over the years to improve human’s ability and accuracy to predict the weather in order to ensure a better life. This process of weather prediction using various scientific and computational tools is referred to as weather forecasting.

Weather Forecasting is done by using supercomputers to collect and process large amounts of data about the atmosphere and applying scientific models to make informed decisions from the data.

Why Predict The Weather?#

The ultimate goal of weather forecasting is to protect humans and improve our quality of life by using data about the atmosphere to make informed decisions about agriculture, tourism, healthcare, hurricanes, safety and other daily activities. In this lesson you will be making your own weather predictions by running the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model on a Raspberry Pi. You will use this prediction to answer a question you care about and share your weather story with the others.

Purpose and Objective#

The objective of this lesson is to introduce students to weather forecasting and model simulation using the wrf model. At the end of the lesson, learners will be able to:

  1. use weather datasets and the WRF model to answer real world questions.

  2. apply data science practices (data understanding, analysis, visualization, and communication) to tell a weather story.

  3. analyze and reflect on the social impact of weather forecasting

Preparation Materials/Resources#

  • RaspberryPi 3+ or higher, with monitor and keyboard (or a laptop)

  • Internet connection to download weather data

Definitions#

  • MS - ESS2-5: Using weather data to explore changes in weather conditions due to air masses motion and interaction.

  • HS - ESS2-4: Use models to describe how variations in energy flow affect climate

  • MS - ESS2-6: Develop and use a model to describe unequal heating and rotation of the earth determines regional climate change.

  • HS - ESS3-5: Analyze geoscience data and use results from global climate models to make forecast.