Up, up and away in a beautiful balloon at Widdifield

An exciting day at Widdifield Secondary School as a weather balloon took off from the school’s football field.

Its destination was the Astorville area.

Teacher Kelly Shulman says the balloon has the capability to go into near space which is higher than airplane space but not as high as deep space.

Shulman says they have the ability to record information as the balloon travels thanks to equipment in the payload.

She says the goal is to collect footage and reach an altitude of 31 kilometres. S

he says once the balloon reaches a certain height it will burst and then begin its descent downward.

Shulman says the goal of the exercise for the students is to put scientific theory into practical use.

As well, people can follow the balloon’s journey on line.

She says she wanted to teach students to be part of a real life experience and not just study information in a textbook.

Shulman says she wanted to give students a practical problem and see if all the theories can create a successful launch and retrieval of a weather balloon.

Shulman says one of the benefits was the number of female students involved in the project.

The computer science teacher says the big lesson is that if you put science to work you can accomplish something.