Connecting with Extreme Weather Scientists in the Classroom

Interactions with scientists hold the potential to deepen students’ science learning and to spark students’ interests in science. In the WeatherX project, New Hampshire’s Mount Washington Observatory (MWOBS) collaborated with national education partners and rural science teachers in northern New England to develop and test curriculum materials as well as Chat with a Scientist exchanges between middle-school classrooms and MWOBS weather observers to enhance students’ understandings of how weather scientists work with data and their interests in scientific careers. Conducted over live video, Chat with a Scientist sessions were held as student-driven discussions in which MWOBS scientists focused on answering questions that students had submitted in advance. After completing WeatherX curriculum units, students rated the Chat with a Scientist as the most enjoyable component of WeatherX. Data suggest that the opportunity to learn about and connect with a scientist on a human level contributed to this high rating. This article describes the context for WeatherX’s Chat with a Scientist, the questions that students posed to MWOBS weather observers, how students and MWOBS scientists responded to the chats, and suggestions on how to structure similar types of exchanges to maximize benefits from interactions between students and scientists.