Category: Physical Science

You’re on your way to becoming a junior meteorologist! Today we’re going to learn more about another ingredient for weather—wind! Learn what causes wind, why it’s important, how scientists learn about wind before doing your own experiment to see what’s blowing in your neighborhood, and building another tool for your weather station! (If you haven’t checked out “What’s With Weather: Forecast It!” you might start there first!)

Supplies:

For Wind Experiment

• A few plastic lids
• petroleum jelly
• Yarn
• Hole punch
• Magnifying glass (optional)
• A windy day!

For Anemometer:

• 5 small dixie cups OR 1 egg carton
• Scissors
• Hole punch
• Tape
• 2 straws OR wooden dowels
• 1 push pin
• 1 pencil (with eraser)
• Electric fan (optional)

What’s With Wind?

We’ve already learned that weather is the mix of events that happen each day in our atmosphere. We know that there are many different pieces that make up weather, but temperature, atmospheric pressure, wind, humidity, precipitation, and cloudiness are especially important! We’ve also learned that meteorologists are
scientists who study and forecast—predict—the weather and learned about some of the tools they use to make accurate forecasts! [TIP: If you haven’t tried out “What’s With Weather: Forecast It!, you might want to try that Discovery at Home first!]

Today we’re going to learn about one of those important pieces for weather—wind!

Wind is air in motion, but what causes it? The Sun’s rays heat up Earth’s surface and its atmosphere. . .but don’t heat it all evenly. Some parts of Earth’s surface warm quicker. Warm air weighs less than cold air, so the warm air rises up and it is replaced by cool air. This movement—caused by uneven heating—is wind! If you remember from What’s With Weather: Forecast It!, our weather is also caused by differences in atmospheric pressure (remember, that’s what we measure with our barometer). Atmospheric pressure is also a part of wind! Warmer air is usually found in low pressure systems (L on our weather maps!) and cold air is usually found in high pressure systems (H on our weather maps) so wind usually blows from high pressure to low pressure systems! Land formations can also affect wind. Mountains, valleys, lakes, and deserts will all change how the atmosphere warms and can funnel how wind blows. Humans can also impact wind! Skyscrapers and other all buildings close together can impact air pressure and funnel wind between them!

But the land doesn’t just shape wind, wind shapes the land! Over
time wind can cause erosion and even quickly change landscapes,
such as sand dunes! You can experience this yourself if you ever
visit Colorado’s Great Sand Dunes National Park!

Your Turn

Now that you know a bit about wind it’s your turn to track information about wind in your neighborhood! Conduct an experiment to see what’s blowing around your house and add your own anemometer to your meteorologist tool kit!

Experiment: What’s In The Wind?

Wind transports all sorts of things around the world—precipitation, pollution, pollen and more! You can see some of what is blowing through your neighborhood! Set up this experiment to discover what’s in the wind!

Instructions:

1. Gather your supplies! You’ll need some plastic lids, a hole punch, scissors, string, and petroleum jelly.
2. . Punch a hole near the edge of all your lids and tie a string through the hole to create a hanger.
3. Cover both sides of your lids with petroleum jelly…careful this can get messy!
4. Hang your lids in different locations around your yard on a windy or breezy day. Hypothesize: What do you think will get caught on your lid?
5. Leave your lids outside for a few hours to collect whatever’s blowing in the wind. Then bring them inside. Place them on a paper towel or cookie sheet and observe!

Observe

Observe with your eyes.
• What got caught to your wind sample tools?
• Do you see anything that surprises you?
• Does it match your hypothesis?
Get out your magnifying glass.
• Do you see anything you didn’t notice with your plain eyes?
• What does this tell you about what’s blowing through your neighborhood?

This tool can’t catch everything that the wind might be carrying. It’s hard to catch things like smoke or pollution or precipitation, but you might see dust, leaves, seeds, maybe even insects or pollen!

Make Your Own Anemometer

Meteorologists and other scientists use a tool called an anemometer to measure wind speed. While tools like windsocks and  weathervanes can tell us which direction the wind is blowing, anemometers can help us measure the velocity of the wind too and help us make better forecasts and see if wind speeds might cause damage. Add your anemometer to the weather station you might have built from “What’s With Weather: Forecast It!”

1. Gather your supplies! You’ll need tape, a push pin, scissors, a hole punch, a pencil, two straws (or wooden dowels) and five small dixie cups…if you don’t have cups on
   hand (like us!) you can use an egg crate instead!
2. If you’re using an egg carton instead of small cups, start by cutting off the four corners of the carton and one other carton piece. These will serve as your
   cups! (If you have cups skip to step 3).
3. Lay out four cups/carton pieces in this pattern and punch a hole on the inside side of each cup/piece.
4. With your last cup/piece poke a hole in the bottom. Add holes on all four sides (you may only need to punch one hole in your carton piece.)
5. Push your straws through the holes middle cup/piece to form an X. If you have a carton piece you may be able to cradle the X in the spaces. Poke the ends of the straws through your 4 outside cups/pieces. You may need to secure them together with tape or glue.
6. Poke your pencil (eraser side up!) through the bottom hole, using a push pin, secure through the two straws into the eraser. Your anemometer is now complete!
7. Make sure all four cups/pieces are facing in the same direction! Your pencil will also need to spin freely, so it is best to simply hold it between your fingers, however, you can also try weighting a bottle with sand or rocks and placing your pencil inside to create a stand.

Calibrate & Observe:
Hold the pencil between your fingers in a windy place (you can also use a fan indoors). What happens? Why does the anemometer spin? Why does it spin only one direction? What will happen if you set the fan to a higher speed or the wind blows stronger?

Pollution. We often hear about the different kinds, from air and water to light pollution. But have you ever heard of sound pollution? Sound pollution can have harmful effects on both our health and the environment. It is the job of Noise Control Engineers to design and test noise insulation technologies and sound-adsorbent materials to help limit the harmful impacts of noise and sound pollution. Try your own hand at being a Noise Control Engineer and quiet that phone!

Supplies:

Want to download these directions? Click here for a handy PDF!

Follow along with our Daily Discovery! Click here for all activities that you can do at home.

Let’s learn all about eggs! What are eggs, anyway? What animals do they come from? What are the different parts made of? What can we do with eggs?

Glowing Egg

Supplies:

• One egg
• Flashlight
• Dark room

Instructions:

1. Hold the egg gently in your hand (or ask an adult to help you) and press the flashlight carefully against the eggshell.
2. Carefully rotate the egg to see it from different angles.
3. What can you see? Do you see the spots in the egg shell? Do you see the air cell?
   a. The egg shell is almost entirely composed of calcium carbonate. There are pores in the egg shell that allow some breathability to the shell.
   b. The air cell forms when the egg is laid. You can see where the air cell was when you look at the flat end of a boiled egg.

Learn about density and buoyancy through this floating egg  experiment. Don’t forget to make your hypothesis about what will happen to each egg!

Let’s learn all about eggs! What are eggs, anyway? What animals do they come from? What are the different parts made of? What can we do with eggs?

Egg Carton Art

Supplies:

• Egg carton(s)
• Scissors
• Glue, decorative paper, paint, paintbrush (optional)

Instructions:

1. Ask an adult to help you cut out the center pointy pieces of the egg carton. Be sure to leave plenty of the “petals” on them.
2. Use the scissors to cut out the petals of the flower. Try cutting them in different shapes!
3. Cut a long sturdy stem piece with a little tab on one end from a flat part of the egg carton.
4. Make a hole in the base of the flower and thread your stem through the hole with the tab resting inside the flower. That will keep the stem from sliding out of the flower. Optional: use glue to keep the stem in the flower.
5. Use paint (if you have some) to decorate your flowers. Be creative! You can also use paper to make leaves or more petals on the flower. Let the flowers dry and then pop them in a vase to bring cheer!

Experiment with these natural dyes to make beautiful, colorful eggs that are totally edible! The best part is, you can make these dyes using items you have in your kitchen, and you don’t have to waste any food in the process.

Adult supervision is required for this activity.

Missing the Ball Run at the museum? Sharpen those engineering skills, and use cardboard, paper, and whatever else you can find around your house to build your own version!

Supplies:

All supplies are optional – use what you have!

• Large piece of cardboard or posterboard
• Paper towel rolls
• Cardstock paper
• Hot glue
• Duct tape
• Scotch tape
• Pipe cleaners
• Marble
• Yarn or string
• Blank paper
• Pencil

Instructions:

1. Start by identifying a surface you can use to build your Ball Run on. For example, this might be a large piece of cardboard, or a piece of posterboard that you tape up on a wall (with an adult’s permission!).
2. Gather up different supplies from around your house. Decide which supplies you would like to use for your Ball Run. Here are some ideas!
   a. Use paper towel tubes as slides for your ball. You can cut one paper towel tube into smaller tubes if you would like.
   b. Fold cardstock paper into thirds. Tape the top to make a triangular tube. If you don’t have cardstock paper, you can tape together several regular sheets of paper to make them thicker.
   c. Make your own tubes out of duct tape.
   d. Find other tube-shaped materials around your house!
   e. Find a marble to use for a ball. If you don’t have a marble, you can make a ball out of play-doh, clay, aluminum foil, or whatever else you can think of.
3. . Keeping in mind the size of your surface, sketch your Ball Run. Where will your ball start and end? Which materials will you use for each portion? How will you make sure your ball has enough momentum to keep going until it has reached the end of the run?
4. Using your sketch as a guideline, build your Ball Run! Lay it out so you can see it before you start attaching anything – that way, if you need to change anything, you can!
5. Time to attach your pieces to your surface! There are lots of
   different ways to do this. You can use hot glue, tape, or one of the methods shown in the picture. Or, maybe, you’ll think of your own way!
6. Try it! Place your ball at the top of your Ball Run. What  happens? Did it go as you expected? Why or why not? Make repairs as needed.
7. Take a photo or video of your final project. With your adult’s
   permission, share it with us on social media using #DailyDiscovery. Great job, Engineer!