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Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Make a Rain Gauge

Meteorologists use Weather Instruments to measure different weather elements.  A very easy weather instrument that young student meteorologists can make is a RAIN GAUGE.



A Rain Gauge measures the amount of rain that falls.

Materials
  • empty dry can (Have an adult remove the lid and make sure there are no sharp edges.)
  • ruler

Directions
  • Place the ruler inside the can.
  • Place the rain gauge outside.
  • Check the rain gauge once per day and using the ruler note and record the amount of water in the can.
  • Record this data (information) on a chart or in a science notebook.
  • Empty the rain gauge each day.

This activity can be followed up with multiple math lessons. Students can total the amount of rain that fell in a week or month. They can compare and contrast the amount of rain on different days or weeks. They can find the average rainfall per day for a week or month. Students can note which day or week had the most rain or least rain. Students could graph the data. Older students could find the mean (average), median, and mode.

Have fun with science!





13 comments:

  1. Hey Marcia,
    I have done this before with a largemouth gatorade bottle that had the top cut off and the edges taped. The ruler was taped to the bottle to alleviate misreads as the students could read it through the gatorade bottle. Just thought I would share.

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  2. Thank you, I LOVE the idea of the clear bottle to make the measurement easier to read and using a recycled item. THANKS so much for sharing.
    Marcia :)

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  3. Wow, I woulda never thought of this idea. I LOVE it! What a great addition to a weather unit.
    Lori

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  4. Thanks For stopping by Lori! Hope you're having a good week.
    Marcia :)

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  5. Found you through the NSM Monday Blog hop ~ gave a 1+ to this post - following via GFC, and gave you a vote on PicketFences. Would love a follow back or 2. My blogs:

    lovez2read.blogspot.com (family friendly reviews) ~ (also on picketfence)
    btweenprose.blogspot.com (teen/YA reviews)
    faeroticprose.blogspot.com (adult fiction reviews)

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  6. Thanks for emailing me and following me so many ways! came back as you asked to follow Networked blogs. also clicked on "like" and picket fence again - following you on twitter now too.

    lol

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  7. What a cool do it your self thing to do with kids! Thanks for linking up to TGIF! Have a great weekend,
    Beth =-)

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  8. Simple and easy! I like that! We should add this to our weather station!

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  9. Thank you Phyllis! Happy New Year.
    Marcia :)

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  10. What a great idea!! I always remember the rain gauge at my grandfather's house and now my parents. Thank you for sharing at Sharing Saturday.

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  11. Hi,

    This is very useful, especially here in the Philippines.
    Thank you..

    Lady

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  12. You know, we've measured rain in cups before, but I don't think we've actually used a ruler to really measure it. Why haven't I?

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  13. Ticia, You were using "estimating" - another important math skill! :)

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