One of the challenges coders and engineers face is finding a way to share information with non-technical people in a comprehensible method. As a student interested in both engineering and creative writing, I find this communication to be very important.
In my Software Development class, our class created a website that collects data from a weather station on the school’s roof. Using web technologies (HTML, CSS, Javascript, Linix, NodeJS, SQL etc.) we created code that could select, process, and output data from the weather station. We then worked on formatting our website with an easy to understand design so anyone could access our data.
One of the challenges of this project was with live updating because we had to find graphs that could change each time a new weather measurement was taken. Solving this problem took many class periods of coding, research, and collaboration to finally find a presentable method. The aspect of this project I am proudest of is that it benefits the community.
The website and data records we created are set up to be used in the curriculum for every science and math class throughout the school, meaning that each student will get exposed to the project our class worked on. Whether students the data for standard deviation, significant figures, or probability, this project enriches the curriculum of many classes.
During the spring trimester, the meteorology class is planning on making their own weather station. They can then use our code and formatting to collect data and analyze it. It is incredible to see that our work can be used around the school.
In the future, this low-cost weather station technology could even be established at sister programs in New Orleans and Lusaka, Zambia, where students can learn coding and website development. It is massively satisfying and rewarding that our coding can nourish the community, and even students not interested in programing can learn and benefit from this weather station.