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!