Bethel Navy JROTC Cadets study STEM!

By: Cadet CPO Jaclyn Veilleux, Public Affairs Officer

The Bethel Navy JROTC Cadets made a connection to the recent storm that swept through the northeast region the past few days. Under the guidance of their Senior Naval Science Instructor, Lt. Commander Mark Dwinells, USN (Ret), the second year cadets have been studying the weather forecasting part of the Navy JROTC curriculum which helps them prepare to be leaders and to develop situational awareness. The class collaborated with another group of sophomores at Bethel High School under the guidance of math teacher Mr. Joseph Shaboo, who said “the combined math and science class made for a great learning experience." 

Because of the low clouds lingering over Bethel in the aftermath of the weekend storm, the cadets were able to use a 30 gram weather balloon to calculate the height of the base of the cloud by using the known ascent rate of the balloon. They were also able to calculate the wind speed by using the marine sextant that the Navy provides the classes, and then using the known angle from the launch point to where the balloon disappeared in the clouds, they were able to use simple trigonometry and geometry to measure the distance the balloon traveled, divide that by the time and determine the wind speed.

Cadet Romana Pilepich used the marine sextant while Cadet Willis Ballard and Austin Allaby spotted the balloon with binoculars. Cadet Tom Serenscics kept time while Cadets Zach Furtado and John Tracy helped inflate the balloon to neutral buoyancy with the weight attached, then carefully launched the balloon after removing the 30 gram weight allowing the balloon to ascend at 450 feet per minute. “It was cool to see how this all came together” said Cadet Tracy. Recording all of the data was Cadet Maria DeSimone, who used a spreadsheet to log all of the pre-launch weather data from the weather station the Navy JROTC program mounted on the roof of the high school a few years ago. Maria’s data was then put into the spreadsheet and displayed on the whiteboard for all of the cadets to analyze via the computer and projector the Navy supplies.

This type of Project Based Learning helps science and technology come to life for the students, and shows how the Navy JROTC program helps provide rigorous and relevant educational opportunities. The Cadets and the Bethel Navy JROTC booster club raised the money for the balloons and the helium, as well as for the installation of the weather station. Their next project is to study the Maritime Geography part of the Naval Science curriculum by using charts from the Navy and the Google Earth software at Bethel High School.