Science ‘n’ Scho CIRES Education and Outreach program creates win-win projects for all involved. by Jane Palmer
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recreation,” said CIRES Fellow and project leader David currying around on school rooftops collecting Noone, “and this project is not really possible without rainwater might seem an unlikely introduction making use of citizen science—in this case, the help of to real science, but for some Colorado middlestudents.” school students, it’s a The nearly 200 students collect the unique opportunity, not “This project is not really rainwater that falls on school rooftops, just to learn about conducting an possible without making use of and the researchers analyze the samples’ experiment, but also to contribute to a critical research study: investicitizen science—in this case, the water chemistry to determine where the water has come from and eventually gating how water circulates in the help of students.” what its fate will be, Noone said. The atmosphere. —David Noone scientists and students also run weather “Understanding how water stations across the experimental region in moves around in the air—the water the St. Vrain Valley School District to record vital statiscycle—will help us know how to use water more effectively for agriculture, environmental sustainability, and tics, such as rainfall amount, temperature, humidity, and wind speed, that influence the water cycle. The students’ assistance means the team can gather data from a number of locations, thereby gauging a more accurate representation of the region as a whole, Noone said. “We gain this network perspective on the region,” he said. “Working together gives us something that is greater than the sum of its parts.” The project is one of many facilitated by the CIRES Education and Outreach (EO) program since its inception