Kids seem to have a fascination with the weather, and with a little help and some everyday household objects, they can build their own weather instruments such as wind and rain gauges, thermometers, and barometers. Kids might like to come up with an actual weather forecast, comparing their statistics and forecasts to one done by a local television station. Principles of science, craft skills, and fun are all a part of creating simple weather instruments.
Instructions
Make a wind gauge (an anemometer)
1. Punch a hole in four small plastic bathroom cups about ½" below the rim.
2. Punch four holes spaced equidistantly around the rim in the fifth cup.
3. Push one end of a straw through the hole in one of the cups far enough to be folded over and stapled to itself and repeat with a second cup and straw.
4. Slide the other end of the straw through two opposite holes in the fifth cup and attach another cup in the opposite direction to the other end of the straw, and repeat with the remaining straw and cup.
5. Push a straight pin through the bottom of the cup and through the two straws where they cross each other.
6. Insert the pin into the eraser of the pencil.
Make a Thermometer
7. Mix 5 ounces of water with 5 ounces of rubbing alcohol in a clear plastic water bottle.
8. Add few drops of food coloring.
9. Insert a straw into the water bottle about ½ inch from the bottom and make an airtight seal in the the top of the bottle around the straw.
10. Check the current temperature and make a mark on the straw at the top of the liquid in the straw. Put the thermometer in a warm place and check the temperature again. Make a mark on the straw indicating the warmer temperature. Repeat in a cool space.
Make a Rain Gauge
11. Use the ruler and permanent magic marker to mark the outside of a wide-mouthed clear glass jar, making marks in quarter-inch increments. Mark the inches with numbers.
12. Place the jar outside before a rain storm and read how much rain fell when the storm ends.
13. Use your rain gauge to measure the moisture in a snowfall by allowing collected snow to melt before reading the gauge.
Making a barometer
14. Make a barometer by stretching the rubber from a broken balloon over the top of a clear glass jar.
15. Secure the balloon rubber with a rubber band.
16. Tape the straw to the piece of balloon so that one end of the straw stretches horizontally out from the jar and the other end goes about 3/4th of the way across the middle of the jar.
17.Place the jar against a wall with the straw parallel to the wall and tape the index card to the wall so the straw is aligned with about the middle of the card.
18. Make a mark on the card to show the current air pressure. As the barometric pressure rises or falls, the end of the straw will go up or down.
Tags: clear glass, mark straw, other straw, repeat with, straw through