Weather Instruments
Activity - Classroom
GradesK, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5Science
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Provided by Paleontological Research Institution
What it is
- This resource includes two activities where students create a pine cone humidity detector and a wind dial (anemometer).
- Students will learn how pine cones react to moisture and how to calculate wind speed.
Teaching tips
Positives
- The Background and Extensions section includes engaging activities for older students.
- Students will love creating a tool to use outside.
Prerequisites
- For younger students, teachers may want to cut the strips of paper for the wind dial ahead of time.
- Teachers will need to gather materials before doing the activity.
Differentiation & Implementation
- Before creating the pine cone humidity detector, students can go on a nature walk to collect dry pine cones.
- To make math connections, older students can take their wind dial out every day throughout the week or at different times throughout the day, and graph how many times per minute their wind dial spins.
- Teachers can discuss how a wind dial that measures wind speed may be useful in the field of renewable energy.
- Older students can discuss the relationship between humidity and wet bulb temperature, as well as how climate change impacts these things.
From the scientist review
This weather instrument activity tasks students with building a simple anemometer to gauge wind speed and using pine cones to understand humidity. Instructions are clear, and the activities are engaging and educational. While this resource does not directly address climate change, it does rightly note that understanding weather is a precursor to understanding climate. This resource is recommended for teaching.
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