THOMASVILLE — AP Environmental Science students of Thomas County Central High School got involved with a state-wide environmental research program through gathering data with new sensory equipment. 

The equipment was purchased in June 2021 from Pocket Lab, an educational science company. Dr. Scott Sweeting, the science instructional coordinator for the Thomas County School System, said that it was soon after receiving the equipment that the school partnered with Georgia Tech and Spelman College and began participating in the Urban Heat Island Project, a study dedicated to the impacts of increased heat in urban areas.

“They are trying to map the areas that hold heat and how that impacts the people that live there,” Jason Barr, the digital content manager of Pocket Labs, said. 

Barr visited Dr. Richard Faucett’s AP Environmental Science class last week to show them the ropes of using the new equipment and a walk-through of how to accurately collect the gathered data. Barr recorded the students during the visit.

Sweeting said that involvement with the project allowed the students to see the impacts of scientific research in a concrete way that made it significantly more pertinent for them. 

“The relevancy of science for them has multiplied,” Dr. Sweeting said. 

Voyagers, one of the types of equipment used, are pocket-sized data collection devices that can measure a large variety of things, with Dr. Faucett demonstrating the measurement of acceleration, dew point, magnetic fields and local temperature. 

Students used the Voyagers and the other supplied equipment to take temperature readings from the school lawn and parking lot. According to Faucett, the equipment is able to wirelessly upload collected data to other devices.

According to Dr. Sweeting, this data collection of the local temperature will be a regular part of the curriculum for the AP Environment Science class moving forward, mentioning that the collected data will be sent to professors and researchers at Georgia Tech and Spelman College.

Barr said that the Voyagers and other equipment produced by Pocket Labs was to give tools to educators and students alike, citing science to be a powerful tool that can be used by anyone to help research efforts. 

“Anyone can contribute to science,” Barr said. 

On February 25, Barr’s footage of his visit will be used in at the Science is Cool Virtual Conference, alongside interviews with Dr. Faucett and Dr. Sweeting. The conference is dedicated to bringing science educators together and Dr. Sweeting will be in attendance as a panelist for one of the sessions dedicated to discussing STEM education in Georgia.

Payton Fletcher can be reached at 229-226-2400, ext. 1826