There is more to science than the bang
of two chemicals reacting. Have you
ever wondered why it has suddenly got so
windy, or if that cloud over there is
about to start pouring cats and dogs?
Meteorology is the scientific study of the
weather, and it is the reason weather
presenters can tell you whether it will be
gloriously sunny at your birthday party
next week.
This Go For It will allow you and your
Patrol to explore the atmosphere around
you through activities such as cloud
hunting, assembling weather instruments
and even sucking an egg into a bottle! By
the end of it, you might even be able to
teach your parents something!
For your first session, have a go at some of
the activities in the ‘Get started’ section to
find out which activities in Go For It! Weather
interest you. Then choose three more sessions
worth of activities in the rest of the pack.
Make sure you do at least one activity from
three of the five sections. You should spend
four Patrol times (including planning time) on
the Go For It! to gain the badge.
You’ll need to work together all the way on
this Go For It! – there are lots of decisions and
plans to be made. How will you make sure
everyone’s voice is heard? Think about
everyone’s strengths and how best to use
them.
When your Patrol has completed Go For
It! Weather you will each gain this
great badge!
Think you know it all
already?
Test
yourself
by
creating a weather
whiz quiz for the rest
of your Patrol or your
Unit.
One of your questions
could be: what comes
first,
thunder
or
lightning?
• Pens
• Paper
• Books, encyclopaedias or
a device with internet
access for research
The seasons change four times a year; spring,
summer, autumn and winter. What season is it now?
What evidence do you have of that? Are there springtime daffodils in the garden? Go outside and take
some photos or make
some drawings of your
evidence. Make
a poster of your
• Camera and printer
findings.
• Pens or pencils
• Paper
Get your unit together to play a game. Give everyone a
coloured scarf to wear, either a green or blue (or any
two colours), and stand in a large circle. Get them to
grab the hand of someone opposite them with a similar
coloured scarf and then the hand of another. Now get
them to try and untangle themselves into two separate
circles of colour. Explain to your unit that the two circles
represent isobars – lines joining equal points of pressure.
These lines are a fundamental part of a weather chart. In
the northern hemisphere (the top half of the Earth where
the UK is) wind blows anti-clockwise around the circle if
the pressure in the middle is low, and clockwise if it is
high. The closer the isobars are, the tighter the circle
and the faster the wind!
Now you have had a chance to think about different aspects of the weather theme. What
interests you the most? Check out the activities in the following sections:
• Wind
• Temperature
• Clouds
• Rain
• Pressure
Choose which ones you want to do for the rest of your sessions on this Go For It!. Over the
three sessions you should make sure you do at least one activity from three of the four
sections. You can either plan the next three sessions in one go or allow time at the end of
each one to plan the following session. Your Leaders will be able to help you with the
planning.
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5x paper or plastic cups
4x straws
A stapler
A hole-punch
A drawing pin
A BBQ skewer
A permanent marker
Using the Beaufort scale at
the back of this Go For It, go
outside and decide how
windy it is. The Beaufort
scale uses visual things like
moving branches on trees to
categorise the wind speed.
Do this on three different
nights and keep a log of your
findings.
An anemometer is an
instrument which
measures wind speed.
Follow the instructions
below to make your own.
1. In 4 of the cups punch a hole about 1 cm below the rim.
2. In the 5th cup punch 4 equally spaced holes half way
down the cup.
3. Join two of the straws together, repeat with the other
straws.
4. Take one of the 4 cups from step 1 and push one of the
straw-straw combinations through the hole. Fold the end
of the straw over at the other side of the cup and staple
it so it is secure. Repeat this with another cup from step
1 and the remaining straws.
5. Take one of the straw-cup combinations from step 4 and
slide it through 2 of the hole in the 5th cup.
6. Now take one of the remaining cups and slide it onto the
other end of the straw, staple it in place.
7. Decorate the last cup with the permanent marker.
8. Repeat steps 5 and 6 with the remaining cup-straw
combination and decorated cup.
9. Your straws should now cross over in the middle of the
5th cup. Push the drawing pin in and out of the cross to
make a hole.
10. Now take your BBQ skewer and prop the cup-straw
device on top. You can secure it in place with sticky
tape.
Stuck? Find instructions on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oZ6M4DNmKY
• Beaufort scale
• Pens or pencils
• Paper
This is a photograph of a
weather measurement station.
The anemometer is circled.
Ever wondered why when it’s
windier it’s colder? This is called
wind chill, wind chill is the
temperature your body feels when
the air temperature is combined
with the wind speed.
• 2 thermometers
• A basin of water that is
about 2°C warmer than
the room
• A desk or paper fan
1. Put one hand on the floor with a
thermometer and the other in the basin
of water with the other thermometer.
2. Shut your eyes. Which hand feels
warmer? The one on the floor will be
your first answer but it is actually the one in the water!
3. Now take your hand out of the water and get someone to fan your dry hand, and
then your wet hand. Which one feels colder now?
The hand on the floor is actually much warmer than the surrounding air (body
temperature is around 37⁰C) and as air is a bad conductor it doesn’t take much heat
away from your hand. The other hand in the water cools down to the temperature of
the water very quickly as water is a good conductor. When the fan is blown on each
hand they both feel colder than before. The wind blows away an insulating layer of
molecules away from your hand cooling it down - the stronger the wind the more
molecules are blown away and the colder your hand gets. The wet hand feels much
colder than the dry hand because the wind is helping the water on your skin to
evaporate. Evaporation takes away heat and so cools the skin. This is the main cause of
hypothermia, it is important to stay dry when outdoors.
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A plastic 500 ml bottle
A straw
Blu-Tack
Scissors
Food colouring
80 ml water
80 ml rubbing alcohol*
Safety gloves
Measuring jug
A bowl of warm water
A marker pen
1. With your scissors, pierce a hole in the lid of your bottle that is big enough for your
straw to fit through. Be careful not to slip.
2. Put on your safety gloves.
3. Measure out 80 ml water and 80 ml rubbing alcohol and carefully pour it into your bottle.
The alcohol is extremely dangerous if swallowed, DO NOT touch your eyes, mouth or
nose when using the alcohol. You may want to get an adult to do this bit for you.
4. Add a drop of food colouring.
5. Screw the top onto the bottle and put the straw through the hole making sure it touches
the liquid but not the bottom of the bottle.
6. Use the Blu-tack to seal the straw in place so that no air can enter except through the
straw.
7. Hold the bottom of the bottle carefully in your hands – be careful not to squeeze it.
8. Mark where the liquid gets with your pen. Now put it in the bowl of warm water. Does
the liquid go further up the straw?
The liquid moves up the straw when heated. Just like any other thermometer the
mixture expands when it is hot and so it moves up through the straw.
*Rubbing alcohol is dangerous if consumed. This experiment can be done (less effectively)
using water only. Fill the bottle ¾ full with water and food colouring and put the bottle in a
bowl of very hot water – making sure the straw is sealed very tightly.
• A wooden or plastic box
that can stand on its side
• White paint and paint
brushes
• A thermometer
• Blu-Tack
Thermometers have to be kept in special boxes called Stevenson screens to
protect them from the sunshine. Follow the instructions below to make your
own.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Paint the outside of your box white and wait for it to dry.
Stick your thermometer to the bottom using Blu-Tack.
Take your box outside and find a safe, shady spot to keep it.
Stand the box on its side so the thermometer is facing you and
it is away from direct weather.
5. You might also want to weigh down your box so it doesn’t blow
away!
6. Now you are ready to take temperature measurements at the
same time each day (or week).
Strike a match and
drop it in the
bottle and
• One 2 litre plastic bottle,
quickly close
1/3 full of warm water
the lid. Squeeze
• Matches *
the bottle hard
and see what happens.
The cloudiness disappears!
WHY?
The hot water in the bottle starts to
evaporate, and when the lid is screwed
on the water vapour stays inside.
Sometimes it may condense on the side
of the bottle, shake the bottle to get rid
of this.
Once the match and smoke are inside the
water bottle the water vapour particles
stick to the smoke particles, creating a
cloud. This is the same way clouds are
created in the atmosphere.
Squeezing the bottle simulates
high pressure and letting go
simulates low pressure. Low
pressure is needed for cloud
formation so when the bottle
is squeezed the cloud disappears.
*Always be careful when
using matches.
Look up four different cloud types and
print out photographs. Stick these
photographs in four corners of a room.
Play some music and get the girls in your
patrol and/or unit to dance to it.
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Computer and printer
Paper fastener
Paper
Pen
1. Go online to: http://www.rmets.org/weatherand-climate/resources/cloudwheel-cloudidentification and download and print in colour
the cloud wheel shown in the bottom corner.
2. Attach the two parts of the cloud wheel
together with a paper fastener (it might also be
a good idea to laminate your cloud wheel to
make it more durable).
3. Now you’re ready to cloud hunt! Take your
cloud wheel outside and try to identify the
clouds you can see.
4. Do this on three different nights and keep a log
of your findings.
Cloud Wheel:
Royal Meteorological
Society
Stop the music and read out a
description of a cloud. Then ask the girls
to go to the cloudy corner they think the
description matches. Ask the girls that
got it wrong to sit down. Play
the music again and repeat
the exercise again until
• A device with internet
the last girl remains –
• A printer
the Cloud Queen!
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Music
Reward her with a prize.
• A Prize
• A large glass filled with
water
• A small mirror
• A torch
• A dark room with light
walls
Make a rainbow inside by
following these steps:
1. Place the mirror inside the
glass of water.
2. Tilt the mirror slightly
upwards.
3. In the dark room, shine the
torch on the mirror.
4. A rainbow should appear! If it doesn’t tilt the angle of the
mirror or the torch.
How does it work?
The mirror reflects the light that passes through the water at an
angle. The water bends the light (this is called refraction) and as
it bends it, it separates it into colours. These are the colours of
the rainbow – red, orange, yellow, green, indigo and violet!
This is what happens when light from the sun passes through
raindrops.
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A large sheet of paper
Photos
Pens
Craft materials
Precipitation is the collective name
for the things that fall from the sky.
Rain, hailstones and snow are all forms of
precipitation.
As a Patrol make a collage of photos or
drawings of you and your friends and family in
different types of precipitation. For example,
photos of your skiing holiday or in a
thunderstorm. Decorate your collage with craft
materials.
• A jam jar or plastic
container
• A ruler
• An elastic band
What to do:
1. Put the ruler against
the jar and attach it
with the elastic band.
2. Go outside and place
your rain gauge in an
unsheltered area away
from buildings and
other activities.
3. Once it has rained
measure how much has
fallen.
4. Measure the rainfall
each week and keep a
log of your
findings.
Empty the
jar each
time you
measure.
Was last
week
rainier
than this
week?
Fancy yourself on TV? This activity
allows you to be a weather
broadcaster!
• A computer with internet access
(and optionally PowerPoint)
• A large piece of paper
• Pens or a projector and screen
• A video camera
Go onto the Met Office website
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/ and
look at the forthcoming weather
report. Use their pressure charts and
icons to make your own forecast
map with PowerPoint or with paper
and pens. Act out your report and
film it. Using a video camera. Show
it to your unit.
This Week:
• Mostly cloudy
• Further rain
• Windy at times
• A hard-boiled egg
• A conical flask with a
narrow neck (500 ml works
well) or a milk bottle
• A strip of paper
• Matches or a lighter
Curious? Follow
the instructions
below and see what
happens.
1. Peel the egg carefully.
2. Cover the egg in water or oil.
3. Light the strip of paper and
drop it in the bottle.
4. Quickly place the egg on top.
The egg should suck into the bottle! This is because
the burning paper heats up the air inside the bottle
and it expands. When the paper goes out the air
inside the bottle then cools and contracts (shrinks).
This creates a lower pressure inside the bottle
compared to the outside. The higher pressure on the
outside of the bottle forces the egg inside.
To get the egg back out of the bottle carefully shake
out the burnt paper and blow into the bottle. This
creates a higher pressure inside the bottle compared
to the outside which forces the egg out.
In weather systems air flows from higher to lower
pressure (just like the egg does) in the form of wind.
Always be careful when using matches.
Safety
As a Leader you have the
responsibility of ensuring your
Guides are safe. It is recommended
that you supervise your Guides when
going outside their normal meeting
place and during the use of
dangerous equipment.
A Varied Programme
It is important to work with your
Guides to ensure they take part in
activities that cover the five zones.
Materials
Online material can be found at the
R oyal
Meteor ology
Soc iety
(www.rmets.org) and the Met Office
(www.metoffice.gov.uk). Other
materials can be easily found on
Amazon (www.amazon.co.uk).
If you have enjoyed this Go For It,
you may also wish to visit somewhere
to learn more about the Earth’s
atmosphere and meteorological
science.
Glasgow Science Centre, Our Dynamic
Earth and BBC Tours are all brilliant
places to visit.
Go For It Weather was developed by Becky Coats
as a University of Edinburgh GeoSciences Outreach
project. Becky is a Leader in Training at a Guide
unit in Fairmilehead District, Edinburgh.
Special thanks goes out to the girls in the 198A
Fairmilehead Guide unit for participating in the
weather activities, and appearing in the Go For It.
Another special thanks goes to Carol Morwood, the
Leader in charge of the 198A Fairmilehead unit,
for her help and support throughout the project.
Thanks also to Jill Masson, Brian Cameron, Colin
Graham and George Meldrum for helping to
oversee the project, and for help coming up with
exciting activities. And finally a very special
thanks again to Brian for providing some of his
weather photographs.
Beaufort Scale
Average miles
per hour
0 (calm)
Knots
Surroundings
0-1
Smoke rises vertically. Water surfaces
are smooth
1 (light air)
1.2 - 3
1-3
Smoke moves slightly with breeze
2 (light breeze)
3.7 – 7.5
4-6
You can feel the breeze on your face
and you can hear leaves rustling
3 (gentle breeze)
8.0 – 12.5
7 - 10
Smoke moves horizontally with wind,
small branches start to sway
4 (moderate)
13.0 – 18.6
11 - 16
Loose dust on the ground starts to
move, loose paper blows and larger
branches start to sway
5 (fresh breeze)
19.3 – 18.6
17 -21
Small trees sway and surface waves
seen on water
6 (strong breeze)
25.5 – 31.0
22 - 27
Trees bend with the force of the wind
7 (moderate gale)
32.0 – 38.0
28 - 33
Large trees sway
8 (fresh gale)
39.0 – 46.0
34 - 40
Twigs brake from trees
9 (strong gale)
47.0 – 55.0
41 - 47
Branches break from trees
10 (whole gale)
56.0 – 64.0
48 - 55
Trees are uprooted
11 (storm)
65.0 – 74.0
56 – 63
Widespread damage
12 (hurricane)
75 +
64 +
Structural damage on land