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Poster presented on March 6-8, 2002 at the conference on Communicating the Future: Best Practices in Communication of Science and Technology to the Public, co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, and NIST. Poster topics were selected as "best practices" through a formal peer review by a committee of distinguished science writers, educators, and researchers.

The Weather Discovery Center
Program conducted by: The Mount Washington Observatory

Abstract

Group of Children creating wind

A school group creating their own wind to propel and steer a sailboat on the “high seas.”

The Weather Discovery Center (WDC) is the latest educational effort of the Mount Washington Observatory (MWO), a weather observatory located on the summit of the highest peak of the Northeast. Mount Washington hosts what many believe is the worst weather in the world and it is a perfect venue for the continuously staffed observatory that has existed there since 1932. For decades the MWO has sought to augment its scientific endeavors with outreach and education, and the WDC was a natural extension of this effort. The initial exhibit planners wanted to teach visitors about weather, wind, the sciences of meteorology and atmospherics, the MWO, and other related topics using high-tech exhibits. It was the planner’s intention to reach school age children and general tourists, especially families. The Weather Discovery Center opened on May 1, 2000 in the Mount Washington Valley.

The MWO conducted focus groups and other formative evaluations before the WDC opened. Findings indicated a strong interest in the public to learn more about the weather and meteorology. The most striking finding was the desire of the test group to learn more about what meteorologists do, especially MWO meteorologists, and to see and work with real time weather data and maps. Using this information the Observatory created exhibits that connected the visitor as directly as possible to working meteorologists and developing weather patterns and weather forecasting, including:

Two computer terminals that continuously update themselves with developing weather data.

A telecommunications link with the staff at the Observatory on the summit for direct discussions on conditions and projects.

  • A camera set on top of Mount Washington whose image can be seen and manipulated at a console in the WDC to monitor conditions on the summit.
  • A blue screen exhibit that invites visitors to role play being a television weather forecaster using up to the hour weather maps.
  • An exhibit on Groundwinds—the Mount Washington Observatory’s highest profile research project.
    The Observatory conducted surveys and traffic studies to judge the effectiveness of the exhibits in the Weather Discovery Center. Several lessons were learned quickly and often:
  • People love weather and love viewing real weather data, but these are hard to dependably provide with a fickle Internet connection.
  • A diversity of technologies should be used in any exhibit area to deliver content.
  • Don’t promise real time scientific data unless you know you can provide it reliably.
  • People love meeting the observers via the teleconference exhibit. It seems to be the scientific version of “a piece of the true cross” phenomenon history museums know so well and know how to exploit to garner interest in historic topics.
  • Never underestimate the public’s, including children’s, interest in arcane scientific data and information, but never overestimate their prior knowledge.
  • People seem to enjoy more, learn more, and spend more time at exhibits that involve another person. A second person is needed to bounce ideas and questions off of while exploring difficult information.

Budget

a) Cost to build infrastructure and exhibits in existing building: $800,000
b) Cost to build related and connected exhibit on the summit of Mount Washington: $100,000
c) Staff to run Weather Discovery Center when fully staffed: About $105,000 for director of museums, two full-time floor staff, two part-time floor staff (16 hours a week), full-time exhibit fabricator/maintenance worker
d) All financial administration including accounting, book keeping, postage, development, and Board of Trustees is shared with rest of Observatory and is currently incalculable.
e) Annual operating expenses after opening: $75,000

Contact
John Hammer
Mount Washington Observatory
PO Box 2310
2936 White Mountain Highway
North Conway, NH 03860
Phone: (603) 356-2137
Fax: (603) 356-0307
j.hammer@mountwashington.org

Web Site

www.mountwashington.org

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Created: 5/31/2002
Last updated: 8/17/2002
Contact: inquiries@nist.gov