Topic: Day 3 – Wind Vane

Subject: 5th Grade Science

Materials:
Drinking Straw
Scissors
Glue Stick
Index Card
Sewing Needle or Straight Pin
Toothpick
Unsharpened Pencil with Eraser
Marker
Plastic Cup with Lid

Essential Question:
How is wind direction measured?

Standards Addressed:
5.E.1.1 Compare daily and seasonal changes in weather conditions (including wind speed
and direction, precipitation, and temperature) and patterns.

5.E.1.2 Predict upcoming weather events from weather data collected through observation
and measurements.

Learning Targets:
I understand how wind direction is measured with a wind vane.

Content Strategies and Activities

Engage Ask students if they have seen or heard of a wind vane. Afterward,
(5 min.) show the students an image, video, or model of a wind vane found often
on top of a barn or home. Allow students to make connection and
comments on their familiarity with the object.

Explore Ask students, “How do you observe the direction of the wind?”
(5 min.) Allow students to brainstorm ideas in partners or groups of three.
After a few minutes, ask the students to share their answers.

Explain Explain that by observing wind vanes, meteorologists know a wind's

(5 min.) direction and can predict how this moving air will change the weather
conditions in an area. Wind is what brings us storms. By knowing the
direction and speed of wind, we are able to forecast the weather. Tell
the students that they will be making a wind vane today.
Elaborate Prior to the lesson, insert a straight pin or sewing needle through the straw. The pin
(25 min.) should be about 2 inches from the trapezoid end of the straw. Next, insert the straight
pin or sewing needle into the pencil eraser, create a hole for a toothpick to fit securely
into. Lastly, use a compass to properly identify the location of the cardinal directions.

Pass out materials and provide the following directions to make

homemade wind vanes.

1. Using the scissors, cut a 1 inch slit in one end of a plastic straw.
2. Trace a trapezoid on an index card and use the scissors to cut it
out.
3. Slide the smaller side of the trapezoid into the slit that you cut
into one side of the straw and glue it in place.
4. With a marker, color the opposite end of the straw.
5. On the lid, write N, E, S, W in each corner. These signify the
four cardinal directions. 
6. Push the toothpick through the hole made by the pin and into the
eraser end of the pencil. Make sure that the straw can spin freely
on the pin.
7. Put the lid on the cup and insert the pencil into the lid.
8. Find a place with wind (or a fan) and test your wind vane.
(Ask “Does the wind vane point toward where the wind is coming from or
where the wind is going?” Allow students to brainstorm and explain their
thinking.)
9. Draw a model of your wind vane in your science notebook.

Explain when wind hits the wind vane, it pushes on the larger surface.
The larger surface is the end of the straw with the index card. As a
result of this pushing on the index card, the other end of the straw will
point into the oncoming wind. Explain wind vanes can be used to aid in
forecasting weather depending on which hemisphere the wind vane is
located in and by the wind direction. In the Northern Hemisphere the
following applies:

North - Cold Weather

East - Precipitation
South - Warm Weather
West – Clear

Ask students to determine which direction the wind is coming from and
if the current weather matches the above predictions.

Evaluate Have students record the wind direction each day of the week at the
(10 min.) same time each day in their science notebooks. Discuss the observations
daily. Evaluate their success at making a homemade wind vane. Check
their science notebooks for accuracy.