This Weather for Kids course is designed for parents to begin teaching their children about the weather and how it affects their world. It is primarily intended as a fun learning experience for both parents and kids, but it has a secondary goal of creating the basis for a life-long interest in science and nature.
Whether this interest grows to the point of further studies and an eventual pursuit of a career or studies in a S.T.E.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) field is not important at this point.
What is important is that kids and parents share a sense of discovery as they learn about the world around them.
Weather and Science should be part of the child’s curriculum in school. We feel that by sharing these topics outside of a school environment so the child will have greater enthusiasm towards their lessons.
What’s more, this enthusiasm will carry over into other subjects. Children who are raised in an environment where learning for its own sake is encouraged are more likely to have greater success throughout their education. Greater success in school is just the icing on the cake. There are more than seven billion people living on the planet, and every one of them feels the effect of weather.
Talking about the weather has always been one of mankind’s most common conversation topics. We all enjoy nice weather and complain when it is not, but if we understand the weather even a little bit, then frightening and dangerous conditions become less scary. If the child is less scared in a dangerous weather situation, she is more likely to make the correct decisions and stay safe.
Check out the first 5 Chapters of our Weather for Kids Course
In this section, we present some simple weather experiment projects which will give you a hands-on lesson about how weather and weather instruments work, and how to make a homemade weather instrument at home.
None of these projects can completely replace a fully featured electronic weather station, but they are useful for understanding what the weather station is displaying. These procedures will also help you on how to make weather instruments for school projects.
Weather Experiment #1: Make a Cloud In a Bottle
Have you ever looked up at a cloud and wondered how a cloud is made and how it gets up there? In this simple demonstration, we will see the process in miniature inside of a 2-liter soda bottle. What happens inside of the bottle is very similar to what occurs in the atmosphere.
The mechanism of this weather experiment is to pressurize the air inside the bottle and then releasing it. The pressure release is very sudden in the bottle while it happens rather slowly in nature, but the results are basically the same.
Weather Experiment #2: A Homemade Thermometer
This demonstration shows us how a liquid thermometer works. There are many variations on this weather experiment, and it is very simple to do with just a few materials that you probably have around the house. Some people have made these thermometers using plastic water bottles.
The problem with the plastic is that it is flexible so it is easy to get a higher reading if you accidentally squeeze the bottle. However, either glass or plastic will work for demonstration purposes.
What keeps the bottle thermometer from being a useful weather instrument is the difficulty in calibrating the instrument and devising an accurate and readable scale. We are including this second link which shows how commercial and scientific grade thermometers are made.
Experiment #3: Making and Using Homemade Barometers
As you may recall from our discussion of weather instruments, there are two common types of non-electronic barometers, the liquid barometer and the aneroid barometer. Simple aneroid barometers are quite easy to make as you will see in the video. What makes this project even more interesting is that your homemade barometer is actually useful for making short-term weather predictions.
The homemade barometer does not have to be calibrated in atmospheres or Inches of Mercury to make predictions, rather, observe the change in the reading. If the needle is lower than the last time you looked at it, there may be a storm coming. If the needle is rising it indicates rising pressure and fair weather is on the way.
Traditional liquid barometers are made using mercury as the liquid. However, mercury is not only expensive to obtain, it is highly toxic to work with. It is possible to make a scientifically accurate barometer using water, but the tube must be very long. This video shows how to make a smaller barometer that is accurate enough for weather prediction and will look nice on a shelf.
Experiment #4: A Simple Wind Vane
Knowing which direction the wind is blowing from can be important for predicting the weather in your area. Wind blowing from the interior of the continent is usually dry and cold, depending on the time of the year, while wind coming from the sea may be warm and moist, bringing storms.
A wind vane is one of the most basic weather instruments. You may have seen decorative wind vanes on top of barns and other tall structures. Even though they seem like they are decorations, they can serve a useful purpose. The wind vane project in the video will not last as long as a metal one, but it will demonstrate how the device works.
Experiment #5: Rain Gauge
Monitoring a simple rain gauge is a good way to develop the habit of observing and recording weather conditions. Your weather notes can be used for a school science presentation, not to mention that it is good information to have on hand. The rain gauge can also be used to monitor irrigation. Simply place the gauge on the lawn when you turn on the sprinkler and you will keep the grass green without overwatering.
