Science at home – Monitoring the Weather

We love doing some simple science at home (maybe more to do with my background than J and T’s interest) and a great idea for some very simple science observation and recording at home is monitoring weather.

We created a simple rain catcher last year which worked well and we were able to observe the rain fall. This year though we have adapted it further and created an even version but added in our own “Weather man” to help record the rainfall. We are still using the free downloadable sheet to record the rainfall (see the simple rain catcher to download).

To make the rain catcher I used a 1 litre bottle and cut it 2/3rd up so that the top will fit in the bottom to produce a funnel collecting the water down. The “weather man” is a wooden spoon – we added yarn for the hair stuck on with some PVA (white) glue and a quick face drawn on. J placed a ruler against the spoon and drew marks at each centimetre interval (or as he said each time there was a number).

Each morning T or J go out and dip the “weather man” into the rain catcher take it out and record how high up the spoon handle the rainfall goes.

We recently took part in a Google Hang out on Science at Home with the theme of the weather – Maggy at Life at the Zoo shares the ideas and some other fantastic Weather Activities for some Science at Home.

If you are looking for more science at home ideas like this monitoring weather check out our –

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Author

Cerys Parker

Cerys is a marine biologist, environmental educator, high school teacher and mum. Realising that life doesn't have to be put on hold and you don't just have to survive whilst the kids are young she shares ideas to inspire you to LIVE with the kids, with activities to do together, recipes to cook and enjoy and family travel to make memories to last a lifetime.