Energy & Environment

Why should we record the weather?Climate & Weather affects:

So we know what to plant where and when

Crops Livestock

Jobs & Lives

If we record weather we can predict from trends....

Why should we record the weather?We also need this information to design structures

Rainwater harvesting tank

Solar cells

Wind turbine

Dam

The weather can have disastrous effects!

Drought

The weather can have disastrous effects!

Flood

How we record the weather-Weather Instruments

Measures air temperature

Measures air pressure

Measures amount of rain over a given time

Shows direction wind coming from

Measures wind speed

Anemometer

Barometer

Wind Vane

Thermometer

Rain Gauge

Where would you put a weather station?

Concrete Grass

Under trees or buildingsShelter from sun and rain from trees and buildings

Heat radiation from concrete

Vigyan Ashram’s Weather Station

Could this be improved?

?

Make your own weather instruments

Rain Gauge Anemometer

Split into three teams

Wind Vane

Team 1:Make your own rain gaugeAvailable Resources:

Rain Gauge

Resources are limited so design before you construct!

A straight Plastic Bottle

Scissors/Knife

A ruler

A marker pen

Sticky tape

string

Bamboo stake

Team 2:Make your own anemometer

Anemometer

Available Resources:

Resources are limited so design before you construct!

Cardboard

2x small straight sticks/bits of bamboo

A nail

A ruler

A big bit of bamboo

sellotape

scissors

Team 3:Make your own wind vane

A short piece of bamboo

A nail

AcrylicAvailable Resources:

Wind Vane

A ruler

Available Resources:

Resources are limited so design before you construct!

How do your designs compare to these?

Wind ActivityMeasure the length from the centre of the anemometer to the cardboard cups

Circumference= π x DiameterWhere π=3.14

This is the radius of the circle that is created when the wind blows.

The diameter of the circle=2 x radius

Now find the circumference of the circle

Wind ActivityCount the number of revolutions per minute(It will help if you mark one cup so you can identify one spin)

Multiply this by the circumference. This will give you the speed of the wind in m/min

Convert this to Km/Hour to see what the wind is classed as today

Wind Speed (Km/hour)

Term Description

0-5 Calm Smoke goes straight up

6-20 Light Wind is felt in face, leavesmove

21-39 Moderate Flags flap, dust is raised

40-61 Strong Large branches move

62 or more Gale/Whole Gale

Use the wind vane to find out what direction the wind is coming from

Wind ActivityX revs/min

X revs/min x Circumference=speed of wind (m/min)

Speed of wind (m/min) / 1000=speed of wind (km/min)

Speed of wind (km/min) x 60=speed of wind (km/hr)

Rain Gauge RecordingDay Time Today’s Height

of Water (mm)New Rainfall(Today’s height-yesterday’s height)

Observations

Monday 9.30 20 20-18=2 18mm from last Sunday

Tuesday 9.30 22 22-20=2

Wednesday 9.40 22 22-22=0 Sore back so could bend down

Thursday 12.00 26 26-22=4

Friday 9.00 28 28-26=2

Saturday 9.20 30 30-28=2

Sunday 9.30 32 32-30=2

What is important when you read a rain gauge?

Should be at the same time every dayEnsure you are eyelevel to the water surface to get an accurate reading

Can you see a trend in this chart?

Plot this info in a graph

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

rain

fall

in m

m

Day of the week

Rainfall in Week 1Easy to see trends

Pune Rainfall and Temperature Charts

Summary Questions1. What does an anemometer measure?2. Where is the best place to put a weather station?3. Why is it useful to measure the diameter of an

anemometer?4. What is important when measuring from a rain

gauge?5. What are graphs good for?