Activity Ideas - Backyard Weather Station

Most of things you'll need for your weather station can be built with common household items. You'll want to find an area either on a back porch or somewhere indoors where you can spread out and construct your weather station.

The basic elements of a weather station are a wind vane, barometer, rain gauge, and a maximum/minimum thermometer. If you want to go even further you can add things like an anemometer to measure wind speed and a hygrometer to measure humidity.

Here's what you'll need:

Your Box

In order to take accurate measurements, your weather station will be going outside, so you want to make sure you use a box that can stand up to anything Mother Nature throws at it... wind, rain, snow, ice. Look around your house for some thing that is wood or plastic. You'll also want to make sure that air can get into the box easily.

Maximum/Minimum Thermometer

The one thing that's a little harder to build on your own is a thermometer. In order to get an accurate reading of the temperature, you'll want to attach a thermometer (a hardware store is a good place to find one) to the back of the box so that you're not stuck guessing.

Barometer

You're going to need:

• A clear tube of some kind (like a straw)
• A glass jar
• Food coloring
• Something to seal one end of the straw
• Masking tape
• A ruler

Steps:

1. Put a strip of masking tape on your jar so that you can use your ruler to mark some measurements on the jar.
2. Then fill the jar with water about an inch.
3. Put some food coloring in with the water to make it easier to read.
4. Put your straw in and attach it to the jar.
5. Carefully, suck on the straw so that some of the colored water moves further up into the straw.
6. Now, pinch it at the top! Be careful not to let any air out.
7. Bend the top of the straw over and seal it so that no air can escape.
8. Place your barometer in a shaded place. If it's too cold outside for the water in the jar, this is one thing you can leave inside and check from time to time.

Wind Vane

You're going to need:

• A manila file folder
• Pencils and markers
• Scissors
• Glue or tape
• A pen cap
• A wire coat hanger

This one requires some cutting, so you'll want to get an adult's help.

Steps:

1. Draw the outline of an arrow on the folder.
2. Cut out the shape.
3. Glue the two pieces together.
4. Glue or tape the pen cap onto the arrow, making sure the cap is level.
5. Flatten the "hook" of the hanger and insert it into the cap.
6. Glue or tape the rest of your hanger on your weather station, so it sits on top of it.

If you can tell what direction you're facing when you stand next to the box, you'll be able to tell what direction the arrow is pointing. If there are southerly winds, that's the direction the arrow will point!

Anemometer

You're going to need:

• Scissors
• A pencil with an eraser
• 4 small paper cups
• 2 straws
• A push pin
• A large plastic cup
• Some tape
• A stapler
• A piece of sturdy cardboard

Steps:

1. Take the large cup and poke a hole through the bottom so that the pencil will slide through.
2. Tape the cup to the cardboard and push the pencil through the hole.
3. Carefully cut off the tops of the small cups or ask an adult for help. You'll want to make sure that they're about an inch deep once you've cut the tops off.
4. Mark one of the cups so you can tell them apart.
5. Tape or staple a cup onto each end of the straws, one facing in one direction and one facing in the other.
6. Staple the straws into an "X" shape and attach them to the pencil eraser with the push pin.
7. Put your anemometer next to your weather vane on top of your weather station.
8. Make sure to tape it down so that it doesn't blow off!

Once you get it outside, if you write down the number of times the marked cup goes all the way around in one minute, you'll be able to figure out when the wind speeds up and slows down.

Hygrometer

You're going to need:

• Waterproof glue
• A couple of thin wooden sticks
• A strand of hair
• Some waterproof markers

Steps:

1. Glue the sticks together to form a "T". You can also string together some popsicle sticks if that's what you have around the house.
2. Tape one end of the hair to the horizontal stick.
3. Mark the length of the hair on the vertical stick. If it helps, you can hold a white sheet of paper behind the strand of hair to see it better.
4. Put it inside your weather station and attach it so that it stands straight.

Because our hair soaks up the water vapor in the air, a wet or humid day will add moisture to the hair and make it longer, where a drier day will cause the hair to contract or shrink.

Rain Gauge

All you need is a wide glass and straight thin jar to gauge the rainfall. Use the wider glass and a ruler to measure out an inch of water. Then pour the water into your rain gauge. You can then put a piece of masking tape on the rain gauge and mark off your measurements accordingly. For snowfall, you can use a ruler in the snow to measure how many inches are on the ground.

Location

Find a spot near your house where you can set up your station, ideally where your rain gauge and wind vane can be set up with no obstructions. And you'll want to position the crate so the thermometer will not be in direct sunlight at any time during the day. Find a nearby spot for the rain gauge. And you might want to keep the barometer indoors if the temperature is below freezing.

Keep checking your weather station and soon you'll be predicting the weather!