The University of Tennessee at Martin Jackson Center teamed up with Jackson State Community College to host a meteorology camp for rising middle schoolers.
The camp was held July 14-15 at JSCC and was attended by 22 students rising to sixth, seventh and eighth grades in August.
Shaley Snider, who conducted the camp, is a lecturer of meteorology at the UT Martin main campus as well as an instructor in the university’s meteorology concentration. She also offers classes for dual enrollment students and at the UT Martin regional centers.
The camp highlighted the basics of meteorology, with participants learning about fronts, air masses, jobs in the meteorology field and severe weather awareness.
“On Monday, we learned about weather instruments and made our own weather forecasts with the instruments, built and tested an anemometer, and dissected weather maps,” Snider said. “We also talked to the National Weather Service and Moe Shamell, a meteorologist at WBBJ-TV in Jackson, about jobs within the meteorology field.
“On Tuesday, we focused on how clouds form, types of severe weather and how meteorologists and officials assess damage from severe weather. Then, we built our own houses out of different crafting materials and tested them against thunderstorms, hail and tornadoes using a table fan, marbles and a leaf blower.”
The camp ended with students learning how to pack an emergency bag, and they held an emergency bag-packing relay race to instill what they learned.
Students from UT Martin helping with the camp were junior Christian Bryson and senior Lio Stephens, both of Jackson; senior Noah Hamblin of Drummonds; and junior Noah Lewis of Troy. All four students are geoscience majors with concentrations in meteorology.
“We wanted to spend time focused on the weather basics and what being a meteorologist really means, and then help prepare them for any type of severe weather we may experience here in West Tennessee,” Snider said. “We had lots of help from the UT Martin Jackson Center and UTM assistant professor of geosciences Dr. Aaron Scott.
“We had quite a bit of interest this summer and we are hoping to have another next summer.”
For more information about UT Martin, visit www.utm.edu or call 1-800-829-UTM1 (-8861).
PHOTO: Shaley Snider (with the leaf blower), a lecturer in meteorology at UT Martin, shows the level of damage a tornado could do to a home as part of the meteorology camp held July 14-15 at Jackson State Community College. Students crafted their own houses and tested their resilience. The UT Martin Jackson Center teamed up with JSCC to host the camp.
