ATMOSPHERIC PHENOMENON AND AIR TEMPERATURE by Denise Peterson
INVESTIGATION F: MEASURING WIND DIRECTION & WIND SPEED
OBJECTIVE: The students will be able to create a wind vane and an anemometer for measuring
wind direction and wind speed.
MATERIALS: 2 colors of thick paper
modeling clay
glue
pen
scissors
protractor
ballpoint pen
drinking straw
2 wooden sticks
ruler
PROCEDURE: 1. Cut 2 thick paper cards: 7 X 0.5 in. (17 X 1 cm) AND 4 X 9 in. (10 X 24 cm)
2. Draw a center line across each card, then add a line on the large card to the
right of the first line.
3. Glue a stick along the second line on the large card, leaving 0.5 in. (1 cm) over
one edge.
4. Fold the card along the first line, and glue the sides together.
5. Glue a 0.5 in. (1 cm) straw to the line on the small card.
6. Fold the card over the straw and glue it.
7. Thread a 3.5 in (8 cm) stick through the straw.
8. With a pen point, make a hole in the top corner of the large card, next to stick.
9. Draw a 90 degree arc from the bottom corner, marking it at 15 degree intervals.
10. Take the cartridge from the pen and stand the pen barrel upright in the clay to
hold the stick of the large card.
11. Put the other stick through the corner hole.
12. Use modeling clay to seal the sticks.
13. Observe large card for wind direction and small card for wind speed.
BEAUFORT WIND SCALE MAY BE HELPFUL!!
OBSERVATIONS:
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CONCLUSIONS:
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REFERENCE:
Reader's Digest: How the Weather Works, Dorling Kindersley Limited, London
1995, page 59.