Meteorologists Help Students Explore Weather

In Minnesota, we all love to talk about the weather—but nobody loves it more than meteorologists!

Before winter break, fourth-grade students at Sheridan Hills Elementary studied extreme weather and created research projects. With the help of Jennifer Bayley, Literacy Coach at Sheridan Hills, students were then able to talk with meteorologist Guy Brown from KARE11 about the weather. 

Over a Zoom meeting, the fourth graders learned about windchill, cold temperatures, asteroids and blizzards. Their questions after the meeting were insightful and fun: What is an E5 tornado? Have you ever been in a landslide? What’s your favorite type of extreme weather? And, of course, do you like sports?

Guy Brown talked about his experiences with weather and how he was in a tornado with his family when he was younger. That drew a few gasps and rapt attention from his young audience. 

The second and first grade students at Sheridan Hills were also interested in learning more about the weather and KARE11 meteorologist Ben Dery came to the rescue! 

Both Guy Brown and Ben Dery are part of KARE11’s WeatherMinds program, which visits local schools every month to “generate enthusiasm for the math and science of forecasting weather.”

Meanwhile, at Richfield STEM Elementary, Heather Brown from WCCO visited Mrs. Sellmeyer’s second grade class to ask students about the weather for her Good Question segment. You can watch the segment here. Students learned about which U.S. states are the coldest and talked about the winter activities they enjoy. 

Whether you love the weather here or not, it definitely gives us all something to talk about. It also captures the minds of students, inspiring them to learn and explore the science behind meteorology.

Photos: Fourth grade students talk with KARE11 Meteorologist Guy Brown via Zoom and second grade students answer questions from WCCO's Heather Brown.