LIMESTONE — Hoping to learn a little bit about what the air up there does to seed and compost samples, Maine School of Science and Mathematics students watched while three weather balloons were sent into the stratosphere during the appropriately named ExSTRATOganza event on May 7.
The balloon was recovered a day later by Humanities teacher Dan Melega, Physics teacher Tom Chartrand and MSSM class of 1998 alumni Michael Fabio. The three ventured over to New Brunswick to retrieve the balloons and the data they carried and found what they were looking for near the Mount Carleton Provincial Park utilizing a GPS unit.
Photo contributed by Alice Haines
Hillside at the Maine School of Science and Mathematics/Limestone Community School, MSSM instructors prepare the weather balloons for their journey to New Brunswick.
Held in part to celebrate the school’s 15th anniversary, launching giant balloons was only part of the fun.
Chartrand assisted Chemistry teacher Dave Dougan with a few demonstrations that certainly wowed the crowd — they orchestrated a couple of chemical demonstrations that yielded explosive results.
