May 1st was a clear, sunny day. Perfect conditions for Kiser Middle School’s Meteorology Club and UNC Greensboro collaborators to send a high-altitude weather balloon into the stratosphere, more than 85,000 feet above the earth’s surface.
The seventh-graders had worked for several months on the project, with science teachers Temple Cantrell and Aimee Perry; UNCG’s Matt Fisher, assistant director of the School of Education SELF Design Studio Makerspace; UNCG instructional technology consultant Mike Renne and recent Maker in Residence and UNCG sophomore Tim Krauss. This was the second year that Kiser students undertook the experiment, first initiated by UNCG alumnus and Kiser student teacher Erik Winkelman.
Each week of the spring semester, the Meteorology Club met with their UNCG mentors after school to design the payload and onboard computer, test parachutes, create a website and select items for the payload, including test tubes of seawater and tap water.
By Susan Kirby-Smith. Photography by Martin W. Kane. Video courtesy of UNCG SELF Design Studio Makerspace. Originally published May 29, 2018.