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There is a “Hemei weather station” on the top floor of Yu Shan Building in Hemei High School. There is also a “Hemei weather station” web page on the school website homepage. It provides everyday temperature and humidity index, atmospheric pressure and solar radiation, precipitation and evaporative capacity, wind direction and speed, and many other professional weather data. Our mission today is to observe which weather instruments provide us various weather data on location! When we look up at top floor of Yu Shan Building, we can see a small black thing spinning very fast. It only stops when there is no wind, even a little wind can make it spin. We always wonder what that thing is. Only till today when we see it in person we learn that it is called anemometer. It consists of three wind cups. The maximum wind speed it can measure is 320km/h. There are also wind vane, bird spikes, rain collector, solar radiation, UV sensor, wireless transmitter, and build-in thermo hygrometer, etc. These precise instruments really open our eyes. Teacher explains to us one by one. Other than these weather observation instruments, there are also instrument specialized on collecting data-WeatherLink Weather Data Software and indoor console. They are both automatic. After data is collected, it would automatically transmit to the computer. It is very convenient! If it were not for this cyber fair opportunity and the tour given by our teacher, we would have only known “Hemei weather station” by name and would not have understood the principle and origin of weather observation. We would not have known these many professional terms and knowledge. We are very grateful to our teachers for their guidance!
This time Miss Jia-Wen teaches us how to make a wind vane. First each one of us makes a paper plane. Everyone has different designs. Some of them have big wings, the others have narrow bodies. Some of them shape like a triangle, the others are pentangle. We also held a paper plane competition. The prize for number one is an apple. The winner is Huang Rui-Lin, and his plane is triangle. Miss Jia-Wen says this type of plane usually flies very far, but throwing pose is also very essential! Next is making wind vanes. First we take a detachable pen and disassemble the front part (take out the spring too). We find the balance point of the plane and stick through it with a pen, and you will have your wind vane. We immediately test our wind vane, but many of our paper planes on the pens are blown away by strong winds! Through this experience of making wind vane and throwing paper plane, we learn many principles:Pointed end of wind vane faces the wind;Structure of a paper plane is the biggest factor on its flying distance. This experience is really fun and amazing. We learn more knowledge from it!
The mission last time is more fun and special. Originally we spent most of our time learning webpage production, but yesterday teacher took us to visit the top floor of the school, to see some weather instruments, to learn about measured data. By visiting and operating on location, we establish some basic notions about weather knowledge. Today we go back to computer classroom and teacher takes us browsing the website of Central Weather Bureau. Before our teacher’s introduction, we almost do not go to the CWB website. Because of advanced technology, we can know about weather by looking at our smart phones. We do not have to look up any websites. However, after teacher’s explanation, we discover that CWB website is full of information. In addition to weather report, we can search many knowledge and information such as weather, climate, 7-day temperatures, earthquakes, outreach, and etc. We learn a lot of knowledge on both weather and science! We are thankful to teacher for leading us browsing CWB website. We get to know another good place to grow our knowledge! We need to make good use of this good resource and do not let it go to waste!
We schedule two interviews. The first one is master Lu Quan-En, and the second one is our teacher Zhang Zhi-Wei from the high school department. Before both interviews, we have to finish our preparations in advance. We borrowed 9 copies of master Lu’s book “Weather in Taiwan” the last time we were in the school library. Each one of us takes care of a copy. There are many weather opinions and knowledge from master Lu inside the book. He spent many years to document his weather observation records and some reflections. It is valuable first hand information! Teacher wants us to read carefully at home and find questions to ask him during the interview. We are divided into five groups. Every group is responsible for five questions to ask master Lu and two questions to ask teacher Zhang. We then collect all the questions for our captain to type and edit into a transcript. We also prepare the appreciation certificate, a gift and license agreement for the interview. Ten members are divided into five groups. One group consists of two members. One of them is responsible for asking questions, and the other is transcribing. Teacher reminds everybody to bring a backpack with us on the day of the interview, so we can hold pens, take photos, or operate instruments with both of our hands. It is the basic equipment for little reporter. We hope we will be presentable and not nervous, so we can learn more useful information and knowledge!
Today is the big day for us going to visit Mr. Lu Quan-En. When we arrive at master Lu’s house by different cars, we all call him “master Lu Quan-En” simultaneously! His house is quite small, and the stairs only allow one person passing through each time. During the interview, Miss Jia-Wen starts the talk first because she is an earth science teacher who is an expert on weather. Master and she hit it off instantly. After their chat, we begin to ask our questions such as, “What is your motivation and purpose for establishing Silver Star weather station?” “Have you ever injured yourself for observing weather?” “What are your favorite part in observing and documenting weather?” “What inspire you to write the book Weather in Taiwan?” During the process of interview, some of us are responsible for transcribing, the others are asking questions. Everyone has their own role, very busy! Master Lu Quan-En takes us on a tour of weather instruments at Silver Star weather station and many books when he studied about weather knowledge. He also talks to us about the problems of “salty wind.” On August 8, 2015, typhoon Soudelor struck Taiwan. Other than record breaking strong wind, there was salty wind phenomenon along the west coast from Miaoli to Tainan. It withered huge amounts of crops. It was also the biggest salty wind disaster. Normal people would think of foehn wind when they encountered this phenomenon. Foehn wind often occurs in Taitung or Taichung area. It is usually with really high temperature, 6 or 7 degrees higher than surrounding areas. It is also very dry, but there was no sign of high temperature in disaster area. The evidences prove salty wind does exist. After this interview, we understand difficulties and hardships of setting up a weather station! Master Lu Quan-En especially strives all on his own, builds everything from scratch, and expands the scale of weather station bit by bit. We not only learn from his never giving up spirit, but also cherish valuable lessons and experiences he gives us. We finish this interview mission successfully. This trip is definitely worthwhile! |