Lab Name Weather and Climate, Earth and Human Activity: Heat Island Effect Experiment
Subject Area Science
Grade 9-12
Topic
  • Weather and climate
  • Earth and human activity.
Experiment Title Measuring air and surface temperature to determine whether or not heat islands exist in the Morrisania section of the Bronx.
Hardware Raspberry Pi, Arduino Uno, Gravity Shield and sensors (6 setups for 6 lab groups of 4 students each).
Software COSMOS toolkit framework, Chronograf and InfluxDB.
Number of Sessions to teach the topic 3-5 sessions
Educational standards to be addressed Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS):
  • ESS3.D: Global Climate Change
    Though the magnitudes of human impacts are greater than they have ever been, so too are human abilities to model, predict, and manage current and future impacts.
COSMOS concepts to be used for the lab
  • Present: wireless signals - transmitting data using a wireless signal.
  • Future: scientific experimentation on a wireless testbed taking advantage of the capabilities of a testbed to collect lots of data over a longer period of time using environmental sensors attached to nodes.
K12 Educational Goals (How the educational goals are achieved through teaching using the experiment, how the topic is connected to the COSMOS concepts used) Students will learn about the impact of rising air and surface temperatures in localized areas and the potential impact of heat islands. Students will learn about the transmission of a data using a local wireless network. Ultimately, students will learn how important environmental data regarding weather (air and surface temperature) can be logged and analyzed using a city-scale wireless testbed.
Short Description and Walk-through of the experiment
  1. Discuss and review the role of the different variables that influence the formation of heat islands - see EPA heat island info.
  2. Research historical temperature trends in NYC.
  3. Review the experiment protocols and purpose.
  4. Examine Raspberry Pi/Arduino Uno/Gravity Sensor setup.
  5. Teams decide on the purpose of their study:
    1. energy savings.
    2. human health risks.
  6. Teams select an area of study within .5 miles of our school building
  7. Teams select the intervals for data collection.
  8. Teams devise a data collection schedule.
Testbed mapping of the experiment Environmental sensors - specifically for air and surface temperatures and carbon dioxide - are installed on COSMOS nodes. Students log into the COSMOS testbed and sign up for a data collection window. Students analyze this data and compare it to data collected by the city and National Weather Service.
If heat islands exist, students will then look at energy use and human health trends. Students will use the NYC Department of Health and NYC Department of Environmental Protection data to see if there is a correlation between heat islands and increased energy consumption and/or emergency room visits (to demonstrate the impact on public health).

Experiment Execution

To collect environmental measurements from nearby IoT nodes press START. In order to terminate the experiment press STOP.

Experiment Material

NGSS Lesson Plan
Worksheet
Scientific Work Sample

© 2018 COSMOS Project. Created by Patrick Callahan, Bronx Center for Science and Mathematics
Tamanna Shahid, Collegiate Institute for Math and Science.