Keeping a weather journal will give students a structured way to record findings when exploring wind and its affect on the weather. Define what a good observation should look like. For example, have students record wind direction and strength. Encourage students to describe in detail how the wind affects the temperature. Make sure that students record the date and time.
This activity will require a variety of materials, including a Styrofoam ball, meat skewers, a coffee can with lid, a plastic drinking straw sand, cardboard, a magnetic compass, and a test tube. Push the two meat skewers through the Styrofoam ball so that they are perpendicular to each other. Have students cut out weather vane patterns such as simple arrows and tape on the ends of the meat skewer. Fill the coffee can with enough sand to hold the test tube in place. Poke a hole in the top of the coffee can lid and place the drinking straw through the hole. Place the meat skewer into the drinking straw and then place the straw in the test tube and secure the lid on top of the coffee can. Blow on the weather vane patterns to make sure they are able to move freely. Use the magnetic compass to determine direction and then have students observe which direction the weather vane is moving. They should record their observations in their weather journals by using a compass rose diagram.
Provide students with a protractor pattern and have them trace it on poster board and cut it out. Attach a ping pong ball to a 33 centimeter piece of string using tape. The string should end up measuring 30 cm from the attachment of the windometer. Have students label the handle of their windometer with angles from 90 degrees to 20 degrees. Provide students with a conversion table to show how many miles per hour are associated with each angle. Relate these finding to the Beaufort Scale that associates a number with wind speed, and describes the impact that wind speed has on our atmosphere.
Have students make kites and use them to feel the direction and strength of the wind. The kites can be made out of a variety of materials, such as paper or plastic bags, plastic straws and string. Instruct students to cut out a kite shape using a cardboard pattern. Have them attach the straws on the back of the kite using masking tape. The kite will be as wide as the straws are long. Punch holes in each end of the kite and run the string through the holes, tying them off in secure knots. Tape tails to the end of each straw and let students decorate their kites with markers. Find a wide open space on the playground and fly the kites. Students can draw pictures and write summaries of their experiences.