Sustainability Education Resources
Weather Station Education Program
It is estimated that by 2050 more than 70% of people will live in large cities. It is vital that councils and city stakeholders work together to make our home more comfortable and sustainable to live in, especially as the world is continuing to experience climate change.
Townsville City Council, in partnership with JCU, is working to develop a high-resolution, real-time temperature map of Townsville. This temperature map will be produced using low-cost temperature, air pressure and humidity sensors positioned across the landscape.
To develop the large number of weather stations required for the temperature map, Townsville City Council is recruiting schools across our local region to learn about, build, deploy and design environmental monitoring sensors.
This program is designed to connect and relate the Year 5 and 6 Australian Curriculum to sustainability and environmental management and aims to assist our local teachers to deliver a sustainability unit that is written specifically for the Townsville region. The program uses complex, real-world sustainability issues as the subject matter. It aims to encourage students to develop future-focused, critical thinking and problem-solving skills to learn by doing and creating.
Students will work with Townsville City Council environmental professionals to learn about, build, deploy and evaluate a sustainability focused solution aimed to meet the current and future needs of environmental scientists and the community. As the future environmental scientists of our city, the students will explore and evaluate how weather stations and environmental monitoring technology can help to prepare our city for the future now.
Teacher Resources
Introduction
In this lesson, students are required to conduct research on key climate issues and environmental monitoring techniques. Students will work in groups to brainstorm sustainable solutions that aim to meet the current and future needs of the Townsville community.
Lesson Resources
Introduction to Weather Stations
In this lesson, students will be introduced to the weather station. Students will be required to examine the main components of the digital weather station.
Lesson Resources
The Network
In this lesson, students will examine the main components of the LoRaWAN network and develop an understanding of how the weather stations interact within the network to collect and produce data.
Lesson Resources
Building Weather Stations
In this lesson, students will work in groups to build their very own weather station. To construct their own environmental monitoring system, students will need to be hands-on and work effectively in teams.
Lesson Resources
Deploy Weather Stations
In this lesson, students will assist Townsville City Council staff to deploy their weather stations into the natural environment.
Lesson Resources
Visualising the Data
In this lesson, students will be required to use dashboard visualisation software to acquire and store their weather station’s data. Students will also need to interpret and validate the collected data.
Lesson Resources
Design a New Weather Station
In this lesson, students will be presented with a design brief and proposal. Their job will be to critique needs or opportunity for designing changes or upgrades to the current weather stations. Students are required to make suitable, sustainable, and quality decisions to improve the design of the weather stations.
