Weather Related Science Projects

Meteorology is a great place to get kids involved in science as the weather affects us all each day. Observing the daily weather can help kids grow to understand basic scientific observational skills. Here are some simple projects you can do with your children that will help them to understand the environment in which they live.

Egg in a Bottle

To help your child learn about pressure and temperature, the egg in the bottle experiment is quite interesting. You'll need a glass bottle with an opening that's smaller then the egg. You'll need some matches and a hard-boiled egg. Light the match and start a small piece of paper on fire and drop it in the bottle, then put the egg on top. When the flame goes out, the air inside the bottle will cool off, becoming more dense, causing the egg to be sucked into the bottle.

Cold Front/ Warm Front

To show the relationship between cold air masses and warm air masses, you can use a clear plastic tub and some dyed water. First, fill the tub with room temperature water. Then, fill one medium sized cup with cold water and dye it blue. Fill another cup with hot water and dye it red. Pour the cups on the opposite side of the clear tub and watch how the red water will rise above the blue water before the temperatures settle and become purple.

Weather Observations

Kids can learn to observe the weather and be on the lookout for weather patterns. First, teach them the difference between climate and weather, asking them what the climate is where you live. Ask them about other locations. The kids can take daily observations every three hours each day (if not each hour), reporting the following weather conditions: Precipitation, obstructions to visibility (smoke, fog, mist), cloud cover (cloud types for more advanced students), and special weather conditions, such as thunderstorms. For an added experiment, you can have them check rain gages as well.

Homemade Weather Station

You can make your own rain gage by using some type of cylindrical container and marking it evenly on the side so that someone can get the same measurements each time she checks the gage. A simple wind sock can be used to check wind direction. These items can be used in the daily observations mentioned above.