Making

An

Anemometer
Materials

·                  Scissors,  4 small paper cups (like drinking cups),  A marking pen (any color),  2 strips of stiff, corrugated cardboard -- the same length,  Ruler,  Stapler,  Push pin,  unsharpened pencil with eraser on the end,  piece of styrofoam or styrofoam cup,  A watch that shows seconds

Procedure

1.       Cut off the rolled edges of the paper cups to make them lighter.

2.       Color the outside of one cup with the marking pen.

3.       Cross the cardboard strips so they make a plus (+) sign. Staple them together.

4.       Take the ruler and pencil and draw lines from the outside corners of where the cardboard strips come together to the opposite corners. Where the pencil lines cross will be the exact middle of the cross.

5.       Staple the cups to the ends of the cardboard strips; make sure the cups all face the same direction.

6.       Push the pin through the center of the cardboard (where the pencil lines cross) and attach the cardboard cross with the cups on it to the eraser point of the pencil. Blow on the cups to make sure the cardboard spins around freely on the pin.

7.       Place the unsharpened end of the pencil in the styrofoam.

8.       Answer:

·        Where would you set this at home?

·        How would you use this?

·        Where would the windiest spot be located?

Your anemometer is now ready for use!

More:   Measuring Wind Speed - You may not be able to tell exactly what the wind speed will be in miles per hour. But you can count how fast your anemometer turns to get an idea of how fast the wind is blowing. Using your watch, count the number of times the colored cups spins around in one minute. You are measuring the wind speed in turns or revolutions per minute. Weather forecasters' anemometers convert the revolutions per minute into miles per hour (or kilometers per hour). Keep a record of the wind speeds you're measuring for the next few days.  - *Measure the wind speed at different times of the day. Is it the same in the morning; the afternoon; the evening? Move your anemometer to another location. Is it windier in other places? Do trees or buildings block the wind?   *Go to a weather station and see what a real anemometer looks like.

Making

A

Wind Sock

Materials Needed:

·       Trash Bag (any size)

·       Scissors

Procedure:

1.    Cut a small hole in the sealed end of the trash bag (about the size of a round door knob)

2.    Take the trash bag outside on a windy day and hold the open end of the bag up above your head, and let the wind blow through the bag.

3.    Try several different spots to test the wind.

4.    Answer these questions:

·       What direction was the wind coming from?

·       Where was it easiest to tell the wind direction? Was there anywhere that you could not tell the winds direction?

·       What else could you make a wind sock from?

More:

• Cut a larger hole in the trash bag and see if anything different happens.

• Find some one with long hair and watch and see what direction their hair is blowing to tell what direction the wind is coming from.
• When you are at the airport look at the windsock there and see if it looks any thing like your trash bag.

How

Does

It

Move??

Materials Needed:

·       A fan, vent or source of moving air

·       Paper (as many pieces as group members)

      Procedure:

1.     Fold your paper into something that looks like an airplane

2.     Quickly test it to make sure that it fly’s….do not hit anyone with it

3.     Now test it in front of your source of moving air.

4.     Test it outside, and inside in a hallway

5.     Answer these questions:

·       Where did your airplane seem to fly the best? Why?

·       What do you think the moving air source represented?

·       How do you think moving air affect real airplanes?

·       What else do you think that moving air would have an affect on?

       More:

·       Fold your airplane in different ways and see which one works the best and why do you think it worked the best.

·       On an extremely windy day or in an area with very fast moving air try to fly your plane why do you think it does not work as well?

What Does

Wind Do For Us

 And For The Things

Around Us??

Materials Needed:

• Paper
• Pencil
• The Great Outdoors (if weather is not so good the Great Indoors will do)

Procedure:

1.     Go outside (or inside) and do some investigating and observing

2.     Find three things that are affected by wind in some way. (Use your brain)

3.     Answer these questions about each thing you find:

·        What is it?

·        How is it affected?

·        What would happen to it if there were never any wind at all?

·        Is there anyway that you could make a fake wind source for this object if it was necessary?

More:

• Try finding more objects, think about things that are not directly within your surroundings.
• Think of thing that never would have happened on Earth if there were no wind.
• Go to a very tall building and go to the top. How does the wind affect the building?

WIND

SPEED

Materials Needed:

·        A phone and phone book, or a computer with internet access, or a Television with the weather channel

·        Pencil

·        Paper

    Procedure:

1.       Call the weather station, go to www.weather.com on the computer, or turn the TV to the weather channel

2.       Find out what the wind speeds are in different parts of the United States, and in one the capitals of a country on each of the seven continents.

3.       Answer the following questions:

·        How much do the wind speeds differ around the United States and around the world?

·        What affect do you thing the wind speed would have on temperature, and snow patterns?

·        Where was the wind speed the greatest? Lowest?

·        Why do you think that these locations had the highest and lowest wind speeds?

  MORE:

• Look for other weather information on the piece of technology (Phone, Internet, Television) that you are using.
• Check to see what the difference is in wind speed throughout the day.

Go to your local weather station and look at the instruments that they use to measure the wind.