Wacky Weather

Hannah has developed quite an interest in the weather. I think in part to the fact that new Hampshire winters are so long and she is anxiously awaiting spring. I know, I know spring is already here, but it surely doesn't feel like it.

She and her dad had a blast building this weather vane. Isn't he brave to hold the pole with that saw in Hannah's hands so close? You can bet my hands wouldn't be there. What a great dad. Below they place their finished project out in the yard. (See the snow?)

The next project was to build a barometer to measure the change in air pressure. This one didn't involve any tools with blades so Mom was able to give the tiny little bit of help that was needed. Hannah placed the barometer in the living room window and has been taking readings numerous times through out the day. We had rain come in today and she was thrilled to see how the air pressure changed.


Today's project was a rain gauge using a two litter soda bottle. (We buy one or two two litter bottles of soda a year solely for the purpose of using the bottles for craft/science projects. Unfortunately, we had to cut this one, so I don't think it will be used again.) Here you can see Hannah ever so carefully placing the tape to mark the measurements on the gauge.

All finished, she places it out near the weather vane. Hopefully we will get some rain to measure. Today was just a few light showers.

I don't know what instruments she will want to build next and I don't care. I love to see their interest guide.


You can find the directions for these projects and many, many more in How The Weather Works a Reader's Digest Young Families book.


And of course we took a trip to the library to check out what books they had on weather. Here are some of the ones we found:

Little Cloud by Eric Carle (this one was mostly for Rebekah, but I am a sucker for Eric Carle books too)

I love the Rain by Margaret Park Bridges - a cute story book about a girl who learns to like the rain when her friends show her all the wonderful things you can do in the rain.

Why Does it Rain by Marian B. Jacobs, PhD - from the library of why this is a simple science book. Clear and concise explanations and and some cool pictures.

Sing a Song of Popcorn - Poetry Collection that has an entire section on weather. A lot of fun and silly poems, including "Sunflakes" the poem the girls are memorizing for their next poetry class.

Why the Sky is Blue by Marian B. Jacobs, PhD - also from the library of why with the same format.

Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Marin - I know we are hoping for spring, but if you are going to study weather you can't forget about snow. And W.A. Bentley and his photographs of snowflakes are just cool.

Snowflakes in Photographs by W.A. Bentley - just awesome photo of snowflakes!

The Magic School Bus Inside A Hurricane by Joanna Cole - typical Magic School Bus style

The Man Who Named the Clouds by Julie Hannah and Joan Holub - a children's biography of Luke Howard.

Science Matters Rainbows by David Whitfield - because every study needs a little color