Keep your eyes on the skies on April 23 and 24 when Orcutt Academy and Endeavour Academy hold their first joint Balloon Festival. Students from the academies’ science classes will be conducting atmospheric research by releasing weather balloons carrying testing instruments 300 feet above the Orcutt Academy campus.
The balloons will be used to collect data, including humidity, oxygen levels, barometric pressure, and temperature. Students are currently researching similar historic data to develop hypotheses about weather patterns in the area. Data gathered by instruments attached to the helium-filled balloons will be downloaded to data analysis software.
For more information about the Balloon Festival, call the Orcutt Academy administration office at 938-8933.
School Scene is compiled by Staff Writer Amy Asman. Information should be sent to the Sun via fax, e-mail, or mail.
This article appears in Apr 16-23, 2009.