Weather Station and Weather Watching

We have been studying weather with our Nim's Island unit. The kids and I had some meetings over a few days to discuss exactly what we wanted to measure, where, how and how often. We tried a weather station a few years ago that bombed out because of equipment failure. It was just not designed to go the distance as you'll see below.

This year we are piecing together our weather station down at our mailbox and the kids ambitiously decided to record the weather three times a day! Currently I'm working on the data chart to accommodate that vision. They want to track it daily long term which will be fun for math and science pursuits. I'm hoping to introduce forecasting and statistics over time. We recently did a math lesson using the Beaufort Wind Scale and median which I'll share in another post.

A glance at our weather calendar- it has evolved to a workable version this year. These little pocket charts were in the Target dollar aisle. LOVE them.

Ben Franklin was a weather scientist and this book has some ideas for building a weather station and experimenting with weather. We'll be using this book and a few other resources from the list below to make a weather station.

A few years ago we got this kit complete with weather station components and a spotter's guide to weather.

The kit contents- love this kit, but I wanted something that could stay outside all the time. If we are going to be weather reporters and find out about meterology, then we need a weather proof weather station. Am I right?

Magnetic Weather Station- this one is great for preschoolers! Instead of writing they can pick out the symbols and record the daily weather with magnets. I think this might be nice way for J4 to participate in the daily routine of checking our weather station.

Book List:

• Weather Words and What They Mean by Gail Gibbons
• The Science Book of Weather by Neil Ardley- this is a nice one with pictures for experiments and weather instruments
• Weather: Mind Boggling Experiments You Can Turn into Science Fair Projects by Janice VanCleave
• Scholastic Atlas of Weather- great for a fact lover
• Weather Forecasting by Gail Gibbons
• The Kid's Book of Weather Forecasting by Mark Breen and Kathleen Friestad- great book for kids on building a weather station
• Exploring Weather: 30 Amazing Projects That Teach the Wonders of God's Creation by Stephanie Finke- found it on the public library book shelf. Wow.
• Weather! by Rebecca Rupp- experiments and weather log ideas
• Weather Maps by Ian Mahaney- symbols and different kinds of weather maps
• Weather Math: Math and My World by Kiernan Walsh- Weather charts and data analysis (awesome living math book)
• Hurricanes Have Eyes but Can't See and Other Amazing Facts about Wild Weather by Melvin and Gilda Berger- perfect for the fact finding sensationalist in the family. Whenever I even look at the book, I hear the voice over narrating a crazy weather video.
  

I'm excited to incorporate weather into our nature and unit studies throughout the year. They experience a bad storm which makes the story for Nim's Island so it's a good place to begin.