Weathervanes are one of the oldest weather instruments, dating back to ancient Greece. Over the years, they gained importance as religious icons and were often seen in the shape of a cockerel on church roofs. Today, weathervanes are made in a variety of shapes. Weathervanes show which direction the wind is coming from by swinging around in the wind. Kids can craft a wind vane with adult help, by attaching a cardboard arrow to a straw and placing it in a plastic soda bottle. Fill the bottle with rocks so it won't blow over, place it in an open area, and watch it on windy days.
Windsocks are large fabric tubes that have one opening larger. These devices indicate both the speed and the direction of wind. They are typically found at airports, in large, open fields or near mountains. When the wind blows into the windsock's larger opening, the sock points in the direction that the wind is blowing. The sock indicates wind speed by shape and movement. When the sock is moving gently and not fully inflated, winds are not strong. When it is blowing about and sticking out straight, fully inflated, winds are strong. Kids can create their own windsocks with construction paper and streamers.
An anemometer measures wind speed. It contains small cups on the ends of a spinning device. These cups catch the wind and spin around quickly or slowly, depending on the speed of the wind. The cups are attached to a device that records how many times they spin around in a given amount of time, providing a measurement of wind speed.
In 1805, a sea captain named Admiral Francis Beaufort invented a scale to measure wind speed by looking at its effects on ships and waves. The scale was later adapted for use on land and is still used today to measure wind speed. The scale assigns a number from zero to 12, based on the conditions of the environment. For example, a Beaufort rating of 1 would indicate slight ripples in the waves or slight wind movement visible in smoke. A Beaufort rating of 12 would indicate hurricane conditions with white waves and driving spray, or massive damage to land objects.
The Weather Channel Kids website (theweatherchannelkids.com) provides a forecast center where kids can check the local weather, information about careers in meteorology, weather encyclopedias and glossaries for looking up a wealth of weather-related information and a host of online weather games. Illiniweather.com is also geared to kids. It includes a list of online resources as well as specific weather information for the state of Illinois.