Using Weather Instruments
Use weather instruments to measure and record weather data: thermometers for temperature in °C, rain gauges for rainfall, wind vanes for direction, and anemometers for wind speed — and keep a weather diary over time
What a learner can do afterwards
- Name at least three weather instruments and explain what each measures
- Read a thermometer and record the temperature in degrees Celsius
- Record weather data in a table or diary over several days
The lesson
Weather watchers do not just guess what the sky will do. They use special tools called weather instruments to measure it, the same way you use a ruler to measure how long something is.
Three other tools help you measure the rest of the weather. A rain gauge is a straight cup that catches rain, so you can measure how many millimeters fell. A wind vane is an arrow that spins and points into the wind, showing which direction it comes from. An anemometer has spinning cups: the harder the wind blows, the faster they spin, so it measures wind speed.
Every afternoon, Ben checks his weather tools and writes down what he finds. On Monday he records 2 mm of rain, on Tuesday 5 mm, and on Wednesday none at all. After a few days, he can look back and see which day was the rainiest.
Check your instruments at the same time every day and write the numbers in a table right away. That way you can compare one day with another and spot patterns, like a week that was warmer or wetter than usual.
Different weather instruments measure different things, and writing down what they show each day helps you spot patterns over time.
Watch it
Where it sits
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.