Tracking the weather conditions in your area can be fun and educational. Creating your own instruments to record weather conditions in your area will provide you with accurate records that reflect your particular location. You will no longer be dependent on the weather reports to find out exactly how much rain you got in your area. Reports are wonderful, but they often rely on averages that may or may not be accurate for your specific area. Let's face it, your tomatoes really don't care how much rain your neighbors got last night, but they do care how much you got. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
Rain Gauge
1. Select a clean jar that is cylinder shaped. An old olive jar will work well, but you can use any jar that has straight sides and the mouth is the approximately the same size as the jar width.
2. Purchase a funnel that is the same size as the mouth of the jar. Be careful here. If you use a large funnel on a small jar, the results will not be accurate.
3. Mark inches on the side of the jar with a permanent marker. Be sure to measure accurately and to include the 1/2 and 1/4 inch marks. It is doubtful that you will need to measure rainfall in smaller increments.
4. Place the funnel in the jar and tape in place to prevent the funnel from being blown out by strong winds.
5. Set the rain gauge in an open area. Do not set it under trees or buildings where it will collect runoff from objects when it rains.
6. Measure the rainfall by reading the markings on the side of the jar. Record your readings in a weather journal, if you wish. Be sure to date the entry for future reference.
Weather Vane
7. Cut a 2 inch arrow from the tag board. The straight edge of the arrow should be about 1 1/2 inches long and the point should extend to 2 inches. Exact measurements are not necessary. This will be the pointer portion of the weather vane.
8. Cut a 3 inch rectangle from tag board or lightweight cardboard for the tail. Create a slight V notch in the tail.
9. Make 1/4 inch slits in both ends of the drinking straw and attach the arrow and the tail to the straw. Use a dab of glue to hold in place. You have now created the pointer for your weather vane.
10. Use a straight pin (quilter's pins work great) to attach the pointer to a the top of a pencil. Simply push the pin through the center of the straw and into the eraser of the pencil so that the weather vane is perpendicular to the pencil.
11. Form a small lump from the clay and insert the sharpened end of the pencil in to the clay. The pencil should stand erect when the clay is placed on a solid surface.
12. Mark the ordinal directions on a paper plate. It is up to you have detailed you would like to get, but North, South, East and West are the minimum requirements.
13. Use a compass to determine directions. Set the paper plate on a flat outside surface and stick the clay to the plate. Be sure to align the directions noted on the paper plate with the actual compass readings.
14. Observe the direction that the arrow points when the wind blows it. This is the direction the wind is coming from.
Tags: paper plate, weather vane, your area, care much, conditions your, conditions your area