{"id":38695,"date":"2011-06-24T08:05:32","date_gmt":"2011-06-24T12:05:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=38695"},"modified":"2011-07-05T12:09:30","modified_gmt":"2011-07-05T16:09:30","slug":"how-great-is-the-great-outdoors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2011\/06\/how-great-is-the-great-outdoors\/","title":{"rendered":"How Great is the Great Outdoors?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Mark<\/a>
Mark Rudnicki, right, helps a family learn how to use a light meter as he explains how to conduct the experiment at Chatfield Hollow State Park in Killingworth. Photo courtesy of Mark Rudnicki<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What could be better on a warm summer\u2019s day than an outdoor activity that combines playing in the woods with conducting a low key science experiment that\u2019s fun for the whole family?<\/p>\n

UConn\u2019s Mark Rudnicki, associate professor of forest ecology in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, has developed a program that provides just that scenario.<\/p>\n

Rudnicki\u2019s work on how wind flows through forest canopies is funded with a grant from the National Science Foundation. As part of his grant, which involves both atmospheric studies and forest ecology, Rudnicki accepted the challenge of developing outreach activities that would appeal to a younger audience. In this case, it\u2019s children who might not believe that the study of science can be fun, nor understand its practical application outside traditional classroom settings.<\/p>\n

Rudnicki says, \u201cBroader impacts of NSF research projects aren\u2019t typically aimed at grade school kids, and it can be hard for scientists to get down to that age level, but the NSF really likes the fact that not only are we doing basic research in forest meteorology, but we also have this grassroots effort to get kids interested in science.\u201d<\/p>\n

His program also supports the federal government\u2019s \u201cNo Child Left Inside\u201d initiative which is designed to encourage environmental education for children from kindergarten age through high school.<\/p>\n

With the cooperation of Connecticut\u2019s Department of Environmental Protection and its counterpart in other New England states, Rudnicki developed an activity that is both simple and engaging. Because he actually piggybacks on existing state-sponsored programs, he and his students have a ready-made audience when they show up at state parks with their gear.<\/p>\n

\"UConn's<\/a>
UConn's portable meterological tower signals a gathering place for the Connecticut DEP's Great Park Pursuit. Photo by Mark Rudnicki<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Most impressive, and sure to get the attention of youngsters, is a portable meteorological tower that rises about 60 feet above the forest floor. Mounted on top is equipment that can measure wind flow at the level of the forest canopy.<\/p>\n

Families step up on site for a chance to take part in a forest meteorology experiment that involves measuring the temperature and the wind speed (and in some cases the light) at various locations in and near the forest.\u00a0 Each family team is loaned the appropriate equipment. Anemometer. Light meter. Clip board with experiment sheets where participants write down their hypotheses and can draw conclusions.<\/p>\n

Rudnicki says, \u201cThey have a lot of fun, usually a little more than the parents bargain for, but the kids love it. They love the gadgets and I think they get a lot out of it. The experiment seems to be just right in terms of difficulty, and they can wrap it up in about 15 minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first order of business is developing a hypothesis, and that\u2019s where the parents usually help out the most. \u201cThe hypothesis helps the kids come up with an idea,\u201d Rudnicki says. \u201cFor instance, they hypothesize that the wind is going to be faster or slower on the edge of the forest than it will be deeper inside the woods, or out in the open. They actually measure the wind and collect the data, and they learn that the scientific method can be used by anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"This<\/a>
This family was busily reading sensors and recording data for their experiment at Chatfield Hollow State Park. Photo by Mark Rudnicki<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The rest of the time is spent learning about forest ecology from the posters and handouts Rudnicki and his students bring along, turning in data, and seeing first-hand how variable the weather can be, even within very small geographic areas.<\/p>\n

According to Rudnicki, one of the most positive things about the program is that, \u201cBy going to this free event, we try to reach all kids, not just the ones who go to science camp or are in science magnet schools. What we are doing combines families and science and getting to know the environment \u2026 and when families work together on simple projects like this, maybe they\u2019ll realize that more complicated things such as global climate change are real. And, maybe that will inspire them to learn more and get involved with what\u2019s happening to their planet.\u201d<\/p>\n

The NSF likes the program so much that it has added some supplemental funding so that Rudnicki and his students can go farther afield in New England. So far this year, they\u2019ve held programs in Rhode Island, Vermont, and New Hampshire, and Maine is on the schedule at the end of June.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A ‘scientific’ outdoor activity that\u2019s fun for the whole family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[56],"class_list":["post-38695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-25 18:32:28","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38695"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38695\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38712,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38695\/revisions\/38712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38695"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=38695"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=38695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}