A practical, multiplatform app for climate stress to aid animal producers and science education

Abstract

"Climate variability is a concern in a number of sectors, particularly in the Agriculture industry. The National Climatic Data Center for the US announced on September 9, 2011 that last summer was the hottest in 75 years, with the greatest impact in Texas and neighboring states of Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas and Missouri. The result was daily appearance of news stories regarding losses of livestock and productivity, which during a normal year amount to $897, 369, and 299 million for dairy, beef, and swine industries, respectively. Thermal stress indices have existed for years for these groups, but are underutilized because they require elaborate combinations of environmental (e.g., weather) and physiological (e.g., body temperature) data. There is also increased concern that student interest in science, at both high school and college levels, is declining, and that the United States could be at a disadvantage in solving complex problems of the future such as climate variability due to a lack of qualified scientists. It has been suggested, that the traditional read, recite, regurgitate models for teaching science are ineffective ways to motivate students to learn science, and help them understand and retain science concepts. D.A. Kolb noted that an experiential approach increases interest of youth in science. Experiential learning in the sciences includes gathering the facts surrounding a problem, reflecting on the findings, formulating ideas, and finally testing them, and generating new knowledge. A mechanism to facilitate this process using advanced instructional technologies that are more engaging to a technology-oriented generation of learners will stimulate interest in and learning of science. Our proposal is to develop a native smart phone app (Apple and Android) that combines weather information (both current and projected) with individual animal information to aid the producer in the decision-making process to reduce heat strain and improve animal welfare. At the same time, the app will be a learning device that attracts and stimulates student interest in climate and environmental stress related to themselves and their production animals. Our approach will use students in the "Team-Based Mobile Application Development" course (College of Engineering, IT Program, and School of Journalism) together with CAFNR undergraduate students trained in environmental physiology to develop the prototype. The educational component will require input from a select group of high school/college students in 4-H and FFA (and related agricultural youth organizations), with backgrounds in animal science and a strong interest in using technology to improve animal production and welfare. These students will collaborate with others in the app design and evaluation course for a truly multidisciplinary learning experience. This product will then be promoted, displayed, and tested in select venues, such as CAFNR field days and at the Missouri State Fair." --Description