3. anemometer
wind vane

4. Francis Beaufort
Listen as your teacher tells the story of Francis Beaufort.

5. Do you know how meteorologists determine wind conditions?
Record your ideas in your notebook.

6. Read the introduction and look for key ideas

7. How will you design instruments to measure wind speed and direction?

8. Wind vanes and anemometers
Look at the photographs on page E-77. Do you think each tool measures wind speed, wind direction, or both? How might each tool work to measure the wind? Share your thoughts with the class.

9. Why might a stopwatch be needed to measure a wind’s rate of speed?
‘ What length of time should we use to measure wind speed? Revolutions per minute? Per hour? Share your thoughts with the class.

10. Complete the procedure and record your data

11. SCORING GUIDE: Designing Investigations

12. Share your data with the class
What patterns do you see?
Are there similarities in the data?
Do the data fall within a certain range?
What might explain these similarities or differences?
Are the wind measurements similar? Why or why not?
What does this tell you about the wind or about the instruments that were used?
How could we test our ideas?

13. What is one change you made to your instrument?
How did it improve the design? Brainstorm any design challenges that still remain. Share your thoughts with the class.

14. Scientific careers in weather
Look at the skills for the scientific career you chose to focus on, and mark those that you have mastered.

15. Analysis question 1
Evaluate your group’s two instruments by completing the following table.

16. Analysis question 2
What do the more successful wind-measurement instruments have in common?

17. Analysis question 3
You designed and tested your anemometer and wind vane at school. Imagine using them on a ship, as Francis Beaufort did. a. What factors might be different on a ship than at school? b. Describe how you would adjust the design of your instruments so that they would work well on a ship.

18. How will you design instruments to measure wind speed and direction?

19. Key vocabulary definitions
Anemometer - An instrument used to measure wind speed. Wind vane - An instrument used to measure wind direction.