[WW HOME][CLIMATE CHANGE][ATMOSPHERE][SEARCH]


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:

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

CONCLUSIONS:

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

REFERENCE:

    Reader's Digest:  How the Weather Works, Dorling Kindersley Limited, London
1995, page 59.

 

Home 

Learn More About

Back to Wind Overview 

Learning Activities

 
 

[WW HOME][CLIMATE CHANGE][ATMOSPHERE][SEARCH][FEEDBACK]


Woodrow Wilson Leadership Program in Environmental Science * lpt@www.woodrow.org
The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation * webmaster@woodrow.org
CN 5281, Princeton NJ 08543-5281 * Tel:(609)452-7007 * Fax:(609)452-0066