When Tom Barrett, a 4th grade teacher in Nottinghamshire, England, wanted to spice up a math lesson on probability, he didn’t turn to his department colleagues or a professional organization. Instead, he looked to the micro-blogging tool Twitter. Before class, he sent out a message to his followers on Twitter, asking them to report the chance of snow that day in their area. Barrett received answers from more than 20 people by the time the lesson started, with more rolling in during class.

The responses came from Australia, Scotland, Korea, the U.S., and elsewhere, providing a variety of probability data to work with. As a bonus, many of the responses used regional phrases (such as “buckley’s mate” from an Australian, meaning “no chance”) that Barrett employed as an opening to talk to his students about vocabulary and geography.