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A prize presentation ceremony for the "Weather Diary" programme, jointly organised by the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) and the Hong Kong Education City (HKedCity), was held today (November 5). A number of schools and students received prizes for their outstanding performance in the activity.
Lasting a month, from May into June, the "Weather Diary" saw more than 1,500 students from about 250 schools make more than 32,000 weather observations. In recognition of their participation, awards for the "Most Actively Participating School" and the "Best Weather Diary" were set up. There were 10 prizes for each of these awards, namely gold, silver, bronze and seven meritorious prizes.
Analysis of these weather observations by the observatory showed that most of the students' records matched radar and satellite information well. This means that students have grasped the basic skills of weather observation. The analysis also showed that there could be big differences in weather among regions in Hong Kong, and that the weather at any one spot could change abruptly. These results provided a valuable insight to weather forecasting work. Details of the analysis are available at the websites of HKO and HKedCity:
http://www.hko.gov.hk
http://www.hkedcity.net/project/weatherdiary2005
The Director of HKO, Mr Lam Chiu-ying, said it was a pleasure to contribute to education in Hong Kong through the programme. "Apart from acquiring meteorological knowledge, it also provided students with the opportunity to develop the habit of observing the sky, getting in touch with nature and caring for the environment."
The Chief Executive Officer of HKedCity, Ms Jacqueline Cheng, said that learning today was no longer confined to the classroom. "Everything around us is a source of knowledge for students to explore and learn. The large number of participating students means that the activity has been very successful. The HKedCity website has also fully demonstrated its capability in learning and teaching through the use of information technology. Indeed, it is the mission of HKedCity to promote learning through the Internet."
Mr Lam Li-ming, a teacher of SKH Bishop Baker Secondary School, was delighted that his school won the "Most Actively Participating School" gold prize. He said that he highly recommended the programme to the students as a means to learn through practice.
The "Best Weather Diary" winner, Ng Yin-ni, felt very encouraged after learning she won the award, adding that she gained a lot of meteorological knowledge during the activity. She also pledged that she would pay attention to weather changes more closely in the future.
Ends/Saturday, November 5, 2005
Issued at HKT 11:01
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