Science, Weather, And My Trip to Velma

One of my favorite things about working at News 9 is the opportunity I have to visit and speak to different groups and schools around the state.  Appearances are typically more frequent during spring because of the annual onset of severe weather.  But it's always up to the group requesting the appearance to decide what topic I present.

Case in point: yesterday afternoon I had the opportunity, along with News 9 intern Shelby Hays, to speak to the Velma Christian Fellowship Homeschool Group.  I primarily talked to them about how important math and science are in the study of weather.  General subjects are almost more of a challenge because you have to cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time.  The group I spoke to yesterday ranged from kindergartners to high schoolers … and all of the parents.  Talk about a large audience! 

While I enjoyed presenting, my favorite part is always allowing the kids (and parents) to ask questions.  When talking about the weather, it's inevitable other questions will come up that I don't initially cover, so I am always sure to leave plenty of time for everyone to ask something I may have passed over.  It also gives the audience and chance to interact with me instead of me just being their speaker for the day.  Yesterday, I had questions from "how do tornadoes form" to "what kind of weather is the most dangerous" (a very good question!) to "what's the difference between a watch and warning."  Talk about some great questions!  Sometimes the kiddos will sneak in a story or two, which I always enjoy hearing.

Afterward, we all posed for a group picture full of big smiles!  When I started my presentation, I remember some of the kids telling me science wasn't their favorite subject.  But once I started talking about how our weather starts with those basic science subjects, they were all ears.

If you'd like to see some of the pictures, head over to my fan page on Facebook (Meteorologist Matt Mahler) and check 'em out.  And if you haven't, go ahead and click Like while you're there.