Abstract

An important goal of many college-level science courses (especially for non-science majors) is that students become scientifically literate citizens who understand how science serves as a mechanism for inquiry into the natural world. This goal can be accomplished by engaging students in their own hands-on, experience-based scientific investigations. Ballooning is an ideal vehicle for this type of course because it is highly engaging for students and provides a flexible platform for student-designed and built experiments in a variety of scientific disciplines. In addition to contributions to scientific literacy, ballooning also highlights the role of technology and engineering in scientific research and advances students’ skills in these areas. A significant amount of class time is spent on the design, fabrication, and pre-launch testing of student experiments. In addition, students work on activities intended to familiarize them with areas of science and technology directly related to high-altitude ballooning and provide them with hands-on experiences. In this presentation we will discuss several lab activities related to atmospheric science, geographic coordinates and GPS, and microcontrollers.

How to Cite:

Potosnak, M. J., Beck-Winchatz, B. & Jabon, D., (2011) “Ballooning-related Laboratory Activities for Science Courses”, Academic High Altitude Conference 2011(1). doi: https://doi.org//ahac.8144