Katie's Q13 Weather School visits Horizons Elementary

LACEY, Wash – Meteorologist Katie Boer and Photojournalist Dante Jackson returned to Thursday County Wednesday to talk to Mrs. Smack and Mr. Marion's fifth grade classes at Horizons Elementary in Lacey.

Boer previously visited the school when local non-profit Long Live the Kings rolled out their free classroom curriculum to save salmon in the Puget Sound through an online game called 'Survive the Sound'.

Boer brought all kinds of hands-on science experiments to bring weather to life.

"Just showing them--having them be able to see, rather than just talk about it, read about it in a book; when they can actually connect to it and maybe touch it, feel it, have some sort of input on it and how its being done--their eyes just open up so much more," said Jakki Smack, one of the teachers.

Boer spoke to the class about seasons and the relationship between the sun and the earth–including how many football fields could fit between the sun and the earth. The students loved learning about how clouds need to be saturated before we see rain and loved the hands on experience creating “rain” using shaving cream and color dye.

"I love how you tied in their other experiences to understand something. Like the spinning," Smack said regarding Boer's tornado demonstration. "It made it easier to understand.”

The fifth graders in Mrs. Smack's class already do a number of STEM related activities and loved the hands-on aspect to learning about a STEM-related career like meteorology.