Examining Our Atmosphere
For the third year in a row, Mr. Parsons invited fifth graders to join him on a Sunday in May to launch a weather balloon into the stratosphere.
Five boys, one brave father, and Louis, the science intern visiting from Winchester, all joined Mr. Parsons for the adventure.
The expedition began with a drive to Gap, Pennsylvania, where the balloon was launched. Everyone worked together to prepare the package that was attached to the weather balloon, which included a video recorder and equipment that would gather data. Fifth graders have been studying weather and climate this year and were eager to collect data which could be used to answer specific questions they had formulated throughout the year: Will water boil in the stratosphere? How does air pressure affect wind speed? How does altitude affect temperature?
After the balloon took off, the boys started tracking its location. Amazingly, the weather balloon stayed aloft for over six hours. It reached an altitude of 32,031 meters and traveled 90 kilometers per hour at its fastest speed. Most importantly, the equipment gathered an immense amount of data about temperature, air pressure, wind speed, UV strength, sound pressure, altitude, the longitude and latitude locations, and the balloon speed. The boys couldn’t wait to take this information back to the lab.
The weather balloon finally landed in Martinsville, New Jersey. It was quite a dramatic landing. It got stuck in a power line and had to be rescued by the local fire department. Happily the video and scientific data were unharmed.
Many thanks to Mr. Parsons, Louis Goulding, and parent chaperone David H.
Please click here to see the footage from the weather balloon launch.
Please click here to see the footage from the weather balloon launch.
