Weather Worlds Phase One  - Plans for Designing for Data

1. Teacher Name: Lucy Marske

2. E-mail address: lcymrsk@sioux-center.k12.ia.us

3. School Name: Sioux Center Middle School

4. City or Town: Sioux Center

5. State:Iowa

6. Country:USA

7. Class Name (if you are submitting other forms for other classes -
i.e.3rd period Science) Wynia

8. Grade Level (pick one):   Elem (Grades 3-5),  Middle (Grades 6-8),
HighSchool (9+)  Middle

9. Number of students who worked on the plan: 21

10. Your plan - describe in as much detail as possible each instrument you have included in your plan.  Be sure to include information on why you
selected this instrument, how each one will be built, and how you would test its accuracy if you actually were to build it (maximum words: 500)

We think cloud cover is important because it tells info about storms and fair weather.  You can use your eyes and a chart that's on p. 93 in the
book, How the Weather Works by  Michael Allaby  and other books.  Using your eyes and the chart in the book you can know about the clouds by
looking at them and record the time which will be 8:30 am at school and 4:30 pm. at home .    

Humidity is important because we should know how much moisture is in the air because it is related to how comfortable you feel.  We will use a
hygrometer because we think it is a good instrument for humidity.  We will borrow it because it is easier to make one.  We will put it behind
someone's house and take measurements after school at about 3:30.  We will check the local weather channel to make sure we have correct
measurements.  We will trust the accuracy of the matching of our observations with info in the book.

Precipitation is important because it helps crops grow and it helps the soil to get richer.  We will use the rain gauge.  We will stick it in
the ground and we will check it every morning .  We will borrow our rain gauge because it will be faster.

Wind direction is important because if golfers didn't know the wind direction then they wouldn't hit the ball very well. We will use a wind
vane.  We will borrow one from a student's grandparents at his farm and home.  We will do it every day after school.  We will confirm the wind
direction by turning on the local TV channel 12.

Air pressure is important because you can use it to predict storms so people can prepare for them.  We will use a barometer which measure how
high and low the pressure is.  It will indicate whether a warm or cold front is moving into the area.  We will borrow one from a parent of one
of the students.  We will do it at school in an open area during science class.  To make sure our measurement is correct we will call the
airport.  

Knowing about storms is important because it affects our everyday life,like jobs and transportation.  We found 3 main storms that affect us
which are:  blizzards,  tornados, and thunderstorms.  We got our information from two books, Everyday Weather and How it Works by Herman
Schneider and Weather by Dr. Frank Feild.  We also got info on Weather Underground web page on the internet.  We are going to borrowing these
materials.  We will check Weather Underground web page for storms in our area.  We will do this during science class.  We will check air pressure
on our local weather channel which will help us predict whether storms are coming or not.

Temperature is important because it helps us predict the weather.  We
will use  thermometers because they measures temperature.  At a
student's house we will put out 2 thermometers, one in the shade and one
in the sun.  We will check them before school and after school.  To make
sure we are accurate we will check the local weather station.

Wind speed is important because it affects what you do.  We will use the
Beaufort scale for wind speed because it easy to use.  We got the scale
from a book, Everyday Weather p. 160-161.  We will check the wind early
morning, noon, and late evening.  We will look at the trees by the
practice football field to se what the wind speed is. We will check our
local weather channel and radio station to check our accuracy.

11. How do you know that the cost of the materials to build all of your
instruments will be under $100.00 (maximum words: 200)?

Our hygrometer will cost $10.  We know this because we asked the owner.

To record cloud cover will not cost anything.

The value of our rain gauge is $3.95.  We found the cost at this web site:

http://www.hollister.golela.k12.ca.us/weatherwatch/instruments/raingauge.html

The value of the windvane is $25 at Menards store.

The cost of the barometer is about $23.  We found one in Cenco catalog.

The thermometers will cost $30 and we found this in the Frey catalog.