One type of research project centers on measuring the actual barometric pressure in your area and comparing it with visible weather patterns or historical weather data to draw conclusions about barometric pressure's effects or trends. Have students read a barometer at set time intervals and record the pressure along with the temperature, cloud cover, precipitation or wind speed. After collecting data, they can create graphs and try to detect patterns linking high, low or changing pressure to other climate events.
Help students understand how barometric pressure relates to changes in the weather and how that information can be used to forecast the weather. One way to do this is to visit a local weather station or bring in a weather reporter to teach the students how weather forecasting works. Another approach would be to have students try predicting weather using historical data, then check their predictions against what actually happened.
Modern technology opens up a wealth of engaging options for researching barometric pressure and its effects on weather. Let students search the Internet for videos and photos of the most spectacular hurricanes, lightning storms, sandstorms or cloud formations they can find. Let each student pick one phenomenon to study in more detail, with the task of describing how barometric pressure contributes to that effect. Students can share their results with one another, along with the original clip or photo that inspired their research.
Students may also enjoy studying the history of tools designed to measure barometric pressure, or the mechanisms by which those tools work. Students can explore the inner mechanisms of an aneroid barometer or study the development of barometric instruments, including the barograph, the mercury barometer and the storm glass (also known as Goethe's device). Students can also look into modern and historical applications of weather recording, including nautical applications, use in exploration and past and present weather stations.