Roche A. Samy
Class Activity
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How to measure Wind Speed and Direction:
Objective As the class begins its exploration of Air Pollution, these factors will be better understood and measured by the students.
Measurement of Wind speed can be determined by several classroom-made devices. One of these is a simple pinwheel made from either paper or plastic.
Project The teacher can have the students make four cuts in a sheet of paper or plastic that is 5” square. Each cut should be made so that it moves from one of the four corners and stops just short of the center point of the paper or plastic. The four corners are bent toward the center, and a pin is pushed through the five holes (one in each corner and one in the center) to form a pin wheel. The pin should be pushed into the eraser end of a pencil or through the side of a drinking straw. One of the pin-wheel blades should be marked so that it will be easy to count the revolutions of the pinwheel. The pinwheel can be calibrated by having the class ride on a school bus.
The driver of the bus can be instructed to drive the bus at five, ten, fifteen and twenty miles per hour.
The number of revolutions of the pinwheel at each successive speed can be measured by the students. They will then be able to estimate the speed of wind by counting the number of turns the pinwheel makes.
Evaluation:
Questions:
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1). Why do you think Wind Speed is important in your understanding of Weather?
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2). If you look at the Newspaper under the Weather column, what data do you usually see?
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3). Other important data from National Weather Service Office in Stratford include temperature, humidity, precipitation, barometer and rainfall. Describe the importance of each one of the data?
