Tuesday June 20, .1961
Page 2
Summer Nebraskan
Gibberish Means 'Thunderstorms
With Moderate to Strong Winds'
By Doug McCartney
AREA WDLY SCTD MDT TO STG 20 WIDE 60 NW
GRI 60 SSE LINK.
Gibberish? To the ordinary Lincolnlte, yes.
But to the trained eyes of the meteorologist it reads:
Widely scattered thunderstorms with moderate to strong
winds are possible in an area 20 miles on either side of a
line from 60 miles northwest of Grand Island to 60 miles
southeast of Lincoln.
Mr. Lincolnite can hear the translations of the weather
forecast for the area any time they may occur on the
radio or TV and he can read about them in his newspapers.
It is his protection against a rained out picnic ... or a
dreaded tornado.
March through September are the months for severe
weather but June is the time for sudden thundershowers,
according to the U.S. Weather Bureau. During this time an
"eagle eye" is kept on the constantly changing weather by
an elaborate warning system.
Tornado Weather
The first indications of possible tornado weather are
found by meteorologists plotting the warm and cold air
masses as they move through Nebraska, said Richard E.
Myers, head meteorologist at the Lincoln Weather Bureau.
Weather balloons report the temperature, moisture, and
wind in the air masses, he said. They watch for the special
"breeding conditions" for severe weather and tornados.
A mast of light, warm, moist air Is blown underneath
a mast of cold, dry air. The light air tries to rise. Turbu
lance begins. Storm clouds form.
Miles away, in Omaha and Kansas City, radar notes
the formation of the storm .The weather charts are con
sulted, and the danger area is determined by the size of
the air masses.
We pick out as small an area as we can, Myers said.
It usually averages a couple of hundred miles long and
about 120 miles wide. We usually determine it "from point
to point," he added.
: "Severe" Forecast
The "severe weather forecast" is given to newspapers,
radio and TV. The Bureau then notifies rural observers,
police and state patrol in the danger area to watch for
and report funnels or dangerous looking clouds.
The Lincoln area is well organized, said Myers. The
Weather Bureau can also keep tabs on possible tornados
by radar at the Lincoln Air Force Base, he said.
If a tornado is located in the area, the Bureau notifies
the communications media for public warnings and con
tacts local civil defense. If the funnel is approaching Lin
coln, the fire siren will sound to warn local residents.
The chance of being hit by a tornado is very small the
head meteorologist commented. But the destructiveness of
the storms led the Weather Bureau to establish the fore
casting and warning systems about five years ago.
The tornado is a "freak" of violent weather, very local
ized but destructive, Myers stated. Tornado weather is usu
ally hot and sticky with southernly winds and ominous sky.
Between 3 and 7 p.m. is the most common breeding time
for tornados, but they can occur anytime, he said.
Thunderstorm
The bigger, less destructive brother of the tornado is
the thunderstorm. The beauty of the towering thunderheads
conceals internal violence including heavy downpours, hail,
lightning and thunder. They are common during the sum
mer months throughout the mid-west, Myers said.
There are actually two types of thunderstorms, he said.
The first is called the "air mass." It is a single storm
caused by superheated air near the earth rising into the
cooler upper regions.
The second is a series of rainstorms in a "squall line."
This kind is the most dangerous, as it is "self generating"
added Meyers. The line may travel as fast as 60 miles
per hour by creating new storms ahead of it.
This spring and early summer have been more quiet
. and cool than usual for Nebraska, however, the meteorolo
gist pointed out. The reasons lie partly in the great bands
of winds that flow over the United States. While the path
Is constantly changing, sometimes these winds will follow
a favorite path for weeks on end, he said. These winds
create "highs" and "lows" areas of different air pressure.
This spring a ridge of high pressure air formed just
to the west of Nebraska and a low, to the southeast, accord
ing to Myers. Thus the prevailing winds sweep cool Cana
dian air over the state. The warm air from the Gulf of
Mexico, which usually accounts for the higher tempera
tures, is bent east and little has reached the area.
The collision of the air masses, causing severe weather,
is occurring over the east coast this year, said Myers. This
accounts for the heavy winter snow, and the spring flood
ing, he stated.
"Last year the low was over us" he added, "and we
got the snow and rain."
Unfortunately, we don't know why the winds follow the
patterns they do or when they are going to change, Myers
said. A complete shift can come in a matter of two or
three days.
The forecast for Nebraska, as far as we can tell now,
is for a cool summer with more moisture than usual, he
stated. But this doesn't mean there will be no tornados or
severe weather, he explained. It only means that the
chance is less, he said.
Finally, it is always wise to remember tornado safety
rules, the head meteorologist stated.
When a tornado is approaching:
Go to a tornado celler, cave or underground excavation
if you have one.
Move at right angles to the storm's path if you are in
open country. (Tornadoes usually come from the south
west, at 25 to 40 miles per hour.)
In town, seek shelter inside a strong well built struc
ture, and stay away from windows.
In homes, go to the south-west corner in the basement.
If you don't have one, take shelter under heavy furniture
against the inside walls of the house. Open doors and win
dows on the sides of your home away from the tornado to
reduce damage.
In schools, stay inside if the building is of strongly
reinforced construction. Avoid auditoriums and gymnasi
ums with large, poorly supported roofs.
Stay oalm, your chance of the tornado striking your
location is very slight.
Finally, keep tuned to a local radio or television sta
tion to receive the latest information. Do not call the
weather bureau, except to report a tornado.
V'
lp
It
4
RUN FOR COVER-Dark thunderclouds,
typical of those seen during the summer
months, come rolling in unexpectedly to
J
cover the countryside with a sudden down
pour and then move on as quickly as they
appeared.
Seventh Grade Math
Experimental Course
Probability Replaces Apples, Pears
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The old story problems
about buying apples or pears
or peaches at the grocery
store have disappeared from
seventh grade math at Uni
versity High school. To these
seventh graders math is fac
toring, probability, divisibility
patterns and number bases.
Thev learned aleebra and
geometry as well as seeing
for themselves what reason
ing mathematicians used in
setting up rules for division
or multiplication.
This oast school vear was
the first time the experiment
al math class has been taught
in Nebraska.
The new method, taught by
Dr. Milton W. Beckmann with
the nelp of a graduate stu
dent from the University, was
developed by the School Math
ematics Study Group (SMSG)
at Yale University and used
for the first time two years
ago in 12 teaching centers
throughout the United States.
The SMSG plan is being
started in Omaha schools on
an experimental basis this
summer.
Experimental Project
It is only one of several ex
perimental mathematics proj
ects being tried in junior and
senior high schools in the
United States. Grand Island
High School is trying a plan
developed by the University
of Illinois.
The University of Maryland
is also experimenting with
different methods of teaching
math as part of a four million
dollar teaching improvement
program for mathematics.
Another $700,000 has been ad
vanced for improvement in
the elementary main pro
gram.
The ctudenti In Dr. Beck'
matin's class were encour
aged to think for themselves
in seeing the pattern in math
ematics which lead to un
breakable rules. Dr. Beck
mann calls it a "discovery
method."
Students look at parallelo
grams,, squares and rhom
buses to see the differences
in length of sides and width
of angles. Instead of memoriz
ing rules, they "discover" the
rules.
Four Over Zero
Four over zero is an im
possible fraction, according to
mathematical rules, but at
University High the seventh
graders find out why.
The fraction 15-5 can be
checked by reducing it to
three, then multiplying three
by the bottom number of the
fraction, five. If the two num
bers when multiplied together
equal the top number of the
fraction, 15, the fraction is
possible.
The students tried this
check on other fractions,
along with the fraction 4-0.
All checked out except 4-0 in
which neither zero times four
or four times zero would equal
four.
Often the students actually
taw more than Dr. Beck
mann himself expected, he
said. One day he listed the
numbers 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14,
asking the students "What do
you see?"
They saw that all were
even numbers, all were divisi
ble by two and each number
had an interval of two be
tween it and the following
number, which is what he
wanted them to see. But they
also saw the recurring pat
tern of 0, 2, 4, 6 and 8.
An attempt to find a pat
tern among numbers divisible
by three puzzled the students,
at first. Three, six and nine
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didn't seem to recur in 12,
15, and 18.
Finally, one thoughtful boy
raised his hand and said in his
slow drawl, "Well, Mr. Beck
mann, I don't know how reli
able this is, but if you add
one and two, you get three,
one and five make six and
one and eight are nine."
Even in such large numbers
as 276, the students applied
their system, adding the three
numbers to get 15 and then
re-adding one and five to get
six.
Number Bases
Part of their study was
centered around number
bases, learning how our num
ber system is built on the dec
imal or base ten system. This
means that a number such as
125 is built by adding five, two
times ten, or twenty and one
times ten, or 100.
The students learned that
the decimal number base is
only one of many systems by
working with a binary or
number base system used in
IBM machines, a ternary
(three) system or a system
built on a base of five, eight,
12, etc.
One hundred twenty-five in
a binary system would ne
five plus two times two or
four, plus one times two times
two or four to make, in our
system, 13. Such a study
helped the students to under
stand our mathematical sys
tem, Beckmann said.
Algebra was another area
of math taught in the experi
mental class. The students
talked with an authority about
the commutative, associative
and distributive properties of
numbers, for example. What
are they? Ask a seventh grad
er and he will tell you it's
simple:
A "commutative" property
is the ability of groups
of numbers to be changed in
order, the ability of a number
to travel from place to place,
as long as it doesnt' cross the
equal sign. A b b a.
It's that simple, according to
the seventh graders.
"Associative" is the proper
ty which allows a person to
add, multiply or divide two
numbers of a group at one
time. In a b c, one can
add a b first or a c first,
then add the third number.
"The "distributive" proper
ty mean that "a" n a(bc)
is the same as "a" times
"b" plus a times c.
Here to Stay
This is only part of what
seventh graders, and maybe
even younger students, will be
learning, according to Dr.
Beckmann, who says that the
new method of teaching math
is here to stay.
"I'm completely sold on it,"
he said. "I have taught for 25
years in high school and col
lege and I have never done
anything so thrilling in my
life."
This summer Dr. Beckmann
and Dr. Monte Norton, co
ordinator of the Lincoln junior
high schools, are conducting
an enrichment class for stu
dents at the 7th grade level
by the discovery method. Dr.
Beckman said the class meets
from 7:30 to 9 a.m. each
weekday morning and anyone
wishing to see the class in ac
tion is welcome to observe it.
What's ahead in experi
mental math for the 1961-1962
school year? Plans now are
to extend the experimental
'procedures and content to
! eighth grade math, along with
'another seventh grade class.
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