FAQ
How do I run Pi-WRF as a local instance?
Pi-WRF can be run as an instance (where results are not saved) on your local machine or on a Raspberry Pi. To run locally, clone (download) the NCAR/pi-wrf repository using the green Code button on GitHub. The instructions are shown on the Pi-WRF GitHub page. By cloning the repo, users can make changes to the Jupyter notebook and even change model settings. The instructions can be found in the first teaching box or at https://github.com/NCAR/pi-wrf.
What is GitHub, and why is this project primarily distributed through it?
GitHub is a repository-hosting service that helps teams and the community manage software development projects. Many of today’s technology companies, universities, and developers use GitHub as part of their everyday workflow. The Pi-WRF teaching box project and the Pi-WRF modeling project are community-developed projects; as described above, this type of project makes up the majority of GitHub projects. Therefore, the Pi-WRF projects are hosted on GitHub; this creates a simple interface for contributing to the projects and accessing the source code. In addition, there are many official GitHub-related resources for teachers. These resources can help teachers incorporate GitHub and similar technologies into their teaching curricula. You can access these resources (and information about them) at https://education.github.com/teachers.
How can I contribute my own content?
Do you have a lesson, concept, or activity that you are excited about? We are always seeking for contributions from teachers, students, and university faculty. You may email your submission to agbeli@ucar.edu; you can also send a submission as a GitHub pull request. To provide a submission as a GitHub pull request, fork the GitHub repo, then make the changes associated with your submission to the fork. You can then create a pull request from the fork; you will receive messages from GitHub about review, feedback, and acceptance of your submission. Once your teaching box is accepted, we will add it to the Pi-WRF teaching box page, and acknowledge your contribution. Creativity is a very important aspect of any curriculum. By contributing to this project, you are helping to boost educators’ and students’ creativity in weather, computing, and modeling curricula. In addition, once your contribution is officially acknowledged, you will be given credit; in other words, your name and institution will be added to the Pi-WRF website. This is an excellent method to show support for the importance of creativity in science curricula.
What hardware will I need to run Pi-WRF?
You will need a Raspberry Pi 3+, or newer model of Raspberry Pi, as well as a compatible monitor and keyboard. In addition, you will need a new SD card, and you will need to install the Raspbian operating system on this SD card. Directions for setting up a Raspberry Pi and installing Raspbian can be found in the first teaching box.
How do I provide feedback and ideas?
If you notice technical glitches, or have input on how we can improve our software, you may submit an issue directly to our GitHub page at https://github.com/NCAR/pi-wrf/issues.
In addition, we encourage you to provide feedback about your use of technology in the classroom. If you are interested, please click the link below to take our online survey. By providing this input, you are helping to improve the Pi-WRF teaching boxes, and the science education community in general.
Feedback & Survey
The Pi-WRF teaching box project is a work in progress. As described above, providing feedback will help this project better serve the science education community. If you are interested, please take our 5-minute survey using the link below:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1ixjSAuqnlQagKq5orXLBl_AYkNDc-aidceDA89xioBI/