Ticker for March 12, 1999

                
MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ...
March 12, 1999     March 12, 1999     March 12, 1999     March 12, 1999


Weather Smorgasbord!

Mother nature is throwing the kitchen sink at Oklahoma today.

As of 6:30 pm, here are the greatest rainfall totals since midnight:

Stuart        3.11"
Antlers       2.98"
Waurika       2.43"
Ringling      2.27"
Sulphur       2.27"
Hinton        2.26"
Webbers Falls 2.07"
Cookson       2.03"
McAlester     2.03"
Minco         2.02"



This Week Marks Oklahoma Mesonet?s Fifth Anniversary
Oklahoma?s Students and Teachers Participate in Landmark Program

For Immediate Release Fourth of Five Releases - Two Pages
Contact:Derek Arndt,
405-325-3076
darndt@ou.edu

Friday, March 12, 1999

Wednesday marked the fifth anniversary of the commissioning of the
Oklahoma Mesonetwork, the state's unique, world-class network of 115
environmental monitoring stations.  Each Mesonet station measures
weather and soil conditions every 15 minutes, 24 hours per day, each
day of the year, in each county of the state.

In addition to its many operational uses, the existence of the Oklahoma
Mesonet has fostered the development of several pioneering outreach
programs to different segments of the population.  The Oklahoma
Climatological Survey's original educational outreach program is the
EARTHSTORM project, which connects primary and secondary schools with
weather data, technology, and each other.

EARTHSTORM was launched in 1992, as an initiative by the Oklahoma
Climatological Survey (OCS) to provide accurate, useful, and exciting
learning activities using meteorology, environmental data, high quality
software, and telecommunications.  It was initially funded through a
grant from the National Science Foundation.  It continues to operate
today through support from the Oklahoma State Dept. of Public Safety,
the Oklahoma Climatological Survey, and the U.S. Dept. of Energy.

The project's participants are educators in over 150 Oklahoma
classrooms.  Initial funding for EARTHSTORM provided a four-week
meteorology and computer institute.  Today, project staff and a small
group of EARTHSTORM teachers travel around the state conducting shorter
workshops on the use of Mesonet data for school districts and
professional development centers.  The teachers are then turned loose
in the classroom, where their students actively download data and learn
about technology and research while they learn about weather.

The participating students and teachers use the latest in Mesonet
viewing software to display weather data.  Teachers can build lectures
and assignments around prepared on-line learning modules and use the
project?s' dial-up bulletin board system to communicate with other
participating teachers, coordinate research, and communicate with
professionals in the scientific community.

The EARTHSTORM program encourages scientific professionals from
research and operational backgrounds to mentor students and classrooms
during their participation. Mentors answer email, visit schools, act as
science fair judges, and conduct tours of their workplace.

EARTHSTORM science fairs have produced hundreds of Mesonet-related
projects, some of which have placed in state and national contests.
One early EARTHSTORM science fair student now works at the Oklahoma
Climatological Survey as a student employee.

In 1998, the project launched "EarthStorm U", a similar program that
involves professors in some of some of Oklahomas colleges. Professors
at the University of Oklahoma, Tulsa University, Southeastern Oklahoma
State University, and Tulsa Community College have participated in the
program, and more institutions are expected to be represented in a new
summer workshop.

Teachers can schedule a workshop for their school by contacting Andrea
Melvin, Oklahoma Climatological Survey, at 405-325-2541.

More project information is available via OCS's award-winning
educational outreach web page:   http://outreach.mesonet.org/


A selection of experiences from EARTHSTORM participants around the state:

GAGE:
"I have seen a significant increase in the skills and abilities of my
students with gathering, analyzing, and interpreting data.  Interest in
science has increased while discipline problems have decreased.  My
students have gained a better understanding of scientific methods
because [Mesonet] has realistic data." - Roberta Chance, Gage Junior
High School

COMANCHE:
"Using the Mesonet, we now work in a laboratory without walls.  Rural
areas are at a disadvantage no longer." - Joann Ball, Comanche Public
Schools.

ENID:
Lori Painter's classes at Monroe Elementary have built upon their
experience with Mesonet data.  Once a week, her 6th graders prepare a
forecast for the Enid area and deliver it via a local radio station.
Mrs. Painter's students communicate regularly with local emergency
management officials to share insights regarding current weather
conditions, especially when severe weather is forecast.

HARRAH:
Students of the Harrah Middle School's EARTHSTORM class formed their
own "Mini Storm Team", which gives weather presentation to local civic
and law enforcement groups.

CORDELL:
"EARTHSTORM gave my students and myself the opportunity to be a part of
something that is happening now.  We are actually the forerunners for
future technological educational methods.  For a small school in
Western Oklahoma, this is very important." - Linda Johnson, Cheyenne
Jr. High School.

FAIRVIEW:
Using his own initiative and experiences with Oklahoma Mesonet data in
the classroom, Fairview Middle School teacher Gary Sacket was awarded a
$5.5 million dollar grant from the U.S. Dept. of Education to implement
the Aurora Project.  Aurora applies geography content and
telecommunications in Oklahoma classrooms.  Oklahoma Mesonet data and
related lessons provide a cornerstone of the project.

TAHLEQUAH:
"My female students, who are generally considered inferior in science
and math, have excelled.  All my top students are females.  The average
grade has increased 10% with all students due to interest of EARTHSTORM.
The females have probably increased 15%.  Technology awareness and use
has increased 100 fold, at least.  Many students now leave my 8th grade
class, go to high school and request to take as many science and math
classes as they can - due to interest in meteorology." - Jeff Lawrence,
Lowery Elementary.