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Weather Lab 6-8 / Week 01 / Wednesday
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Week 01 · Weather or Climate?

Wednesday

Station Lab: Build your station
// The state of the air today, and the pattern over many years
⏱ about 20 min

Wednesday: Station Lab: Build Your Station

Rocket has emptied the recycling bin onto the roof: jars, a cardboard tube, a scrap of cloth.

"Instruments," he announces. "A real station needs instruments, and I can build them all before lunch."

Raven picks up a tall, straight-sided jar. "What do you notice about this one?"

"Its sides go straight up," Rocket says. "So a ruler could measure how deep the rain gets."

Nova circles the pile. "The National Weather Service uses thermometers, rain gauges, barometers and anemometers," she says.

"You will not build all of them today. Which two can you make from this pile right now?"

Raven holds up the jar and the cloth. Rocket is already reaching for the tape.

Your mission

Today you build the first two instruments for Station Rooftop: a rain gauge and a wind flag.

The National Weather Service lists thermometers, rain gauges, barometers and anemometers as basic weather instruments.

A rain gauge measures the quantity of rain that has fallen. An anemometer measures wind speed.

Your flag will not measure speed in numbers, but it will show wind direction and roughly how strong the wind is.

  • A clear jar or tub with straight sides and a flat bottom
  • A ruler
  • A strip of light cloth or a plastic bag strip, about as long as your arm
  • A stick, a dowel or a cardboard tube
  • Tape and string
  • Your weather log
Safety first
A grown-up handles anything sharp. Use a jar or tub that is already open; do not cut bottles today.
Your station sits on the ground, a railing or a windowsill. Never climb onto a roof or a ladder.
Never take a reading outside during a thunderstorm, flood or high wind.
Never look at the Sun.
  1. Rinse the jar and dry it. Tape the ruler to the outside so that zero lines up with the inside bottom.
  2. Set the jar in an open spot away from walls and trees, where rain can fall straight in.
  3. Weigh it down with a few clean stones around the outside, not inside, so wind cannot tip it.
  4. Tie or tape the cloth strip to the top of the stick to make the wind flag.
  5. Push the stick into soil, or tape it upright to a railing or a pot, in an open spot.
  6. Watch the flag for one minute. Note which way it points and how high it lifts.
  7. Record both readings in your log with the date and time.

A flag points away from the direction the wind comes from. Wind is named for where it comes from.

So a flag streaming toward the east is showing a west wind.

Take your readings at the same time each day. Readings taken at the same time are easier to compare.

Empty the rain gauge after each reading, so tomorrow's water is tomorrow's rain.

Date and timeRain in the jar (depth)Flag: points towardFlag: how high it liftsSky
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
PREDICT BEFORE YOU MEASURE
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
Your flag streams toward the north. Which direction is the wind coming from?
Why does the rain gauge need straight sides?
What the lab showsTrue or false?
A rain gauge measures how much rain has fallen.?
An anemometer measures wind speed.?
Wind is named for the direction it blows toward.?
The station should sit on the ground, a railing or a windowsill.?
WHY THIS EXERCISEReading an instrument correctly matters as much as building it.
A flag streams toward the west. The wind is coming from which direction? Type one word.
WHY THIS EXERCISEYou will read wind direction from this flag every day of the course.
For a grown-up
Please check the station spot with your student: open to the sky, away from walls, and nowhere that needs a ladder.
If the family has a digital or alcohol thermometer, it can join the station tomorrow, placed in the shade.
On paper, sketch your station from above. Label the rain gauge, the wind flag, and the open sky around them.

Two instruments built. Tomorrow you read real data from the National Weather Service about the layer where weather lives.

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