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26Supplemental Activities a. Regional Research Station Setup a Regional Research Station in your school, or neighborhood to investigate climate change in your community. The station can be a physical outpost to collect, display and explore research gathered on issues related to climate change. Set up your station in a centrally located spot in your school or neighborhood to display what you’ve collected or learned. This can be a bulletin board in a hallway, a public kiosk, display case or other surface. Next – let’s start researching! Once you have collected material for your research station – pin up, display and provide opportunities for oth- ers to add, comment and share. Introduction to Research: Conduct a Field Study Research can take many forms, involving observa- tion, collection of knowledge, and reflection. Prac- tice your research skills by conducting a brief field study near your home or school: • Observe and Record: Conduct a field study to hone your capacities for observation. Choose a location in your school or neighborhood and spend 20-30 minutes sitting and observing everything that happens. Keep a detailed record in a journal of happenings – note the time, who was present, setting, temperature – also speculate on what’s not happening. • Collect: Start collecting things during a neigh- borhood walk. Create a museum to display your findings. Create labels and imagine the stories behind what you’ve found. • Gather knowledge: Practice gathering informa- tion using a variety of sources – the library, the internet, people etc. Begin to assess reliability of your sources – where is the information coming from, and what might be someone’s agenda etc. • Reflect: Based on your observation, collections and knowledge gathered – reflect on your experience. Draw some conclusions, ask more questions and begin to form your own ideas about your central question or inquiry. B. Extreme Weather Station Setup a weather station to record weather patterns in your local community, and create a space to share this information on your Regional Research Station. To get your weather station started, you can easily create a rain gauge using a small glass jar or cylinder, an anemometer can be made with plastic cups to measure wind speed, and a temperature/pressure gauge is easy to find and install outside. Once you have your tools for measurement assembled, install the weather station in a central location near your school or home with a large sign. Learn about artist Andrea Polli’s project Hello Weather!, a project to de-mystify the collection and use of weather and climate data by bringing artists, technologists, ecologists and environmentalists together around citizen weather stations. andreapolli.com/hello_weather Finally, monitor your station regularly and keep a weekly journal to compare with historical data on weather patterns and phenomena in the area. If you’re working in a group, you can assign different tasks to each person – temperature, rainfall, wind- speed etc. Share your weather station results with others and monitor frequently. Math & Science Connect: This is a great opportunity to connect math and science learning goals with real-world applications and contexts. You can ask students for instance to predict 25, 50, 100 year storm and weather conditions, and water levels; you can chart data from the weather station; conduct science experiments with different weather stations around the school and more! Supplemental ACTIVITIES STAGE 1: UNDERSTAND Climate Change

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