Weather stations provide educational benefit

Students in the Greencastle-Antrim School District are benefitting from the addition of 30 new weather stations provided as part of the enhanced Pennsylvania Integrated Flood Warning and Observation System (IFLOWS 2.0). According to an article in the Huntingdon Daily News, IFLOWS 2.0 provides real-time weather information and alerting tools to emergency managers, meteorologists, and the public at sites across the Commonwealth through the Keystone Mesonet. The upgrade project is being completed through a partnership with Penn State University.

Most of the 30 weather stations will be installed on school properties, including one on the Greencastle-Antrim campus. A team from the district is working with Penn State University on a K-12 weather curriculum based on state academic standards. The new curriculum uses the weather data from the IFLOWS 2.0 system to teach concepts in STEM with real-world applications. The fact that the new weather stations are located at schools, coupled with the K-12 curriculum, means students and teachers will be able to see and further understand how the data collected by the stations connects to local weather patterns. The curriculum development project is funded in part by a PAsmart Advancing Grant the district received in 2022.