WindyBy: Daniel and Nick

How can the speed of wind be measured?

Materials One drawing

compassA poster board

square 6x6 inches

ScissorsMarking penTransparent tape12 inch piece of

threadPing-pong ball

Steps of Investigation First use the compass to draw a curved line connecting 2

diagonal corners of the piece of poster boardCut along the curved line and keep the cone-shaped piece of

paperLay the paper on a table with one straight edge at the top

and the other straight edge to the rightPrepare a scale on the curved edge of the paper by using the

ruler and pen to make nine evenly spaced sections along the curved edge. Number them starting with zero

Draw an arrow along the top edge pointing toward the corner of the paper

turn the ruler over and tape the paper to the top edge of the ruler

Steps of Investigation continuedTape one end to the ping pong ballTape the other end of the thread near the corner of the

paper. The thread should hang so that it crosses the zero mark on the paper

Stand out side on a windy area. Hold the ruler and point the arrow in the direction of the wind

Observe where the string crosses the paper scale

Results: It was found out that the higher the number was on the instrument, the faster the wind was blowing. A stronger wind makes the ball on the anemometer move up the scale to a larger number.

00.1

0.20.3

0.40.5

0.60.7

0.80.9

1

4/20/2010 4/21/2010 4/22/2010 4/23/2010

wind speed

Speed in mph

The first day the wind speed was 0 mph

Results

the second day the wind speed was 1 mph

The last day the wind speed was .5 mph

What is wind? Wind is air in motion. It is produced by the uneven heating of the earth’s surface by the sun. Since the earth’s surface is made of various land and water formations, it absorbs the sun’s radiation unevenly. Two factors are necessary to specify wind: speed and direction.

An anemometer is an instrument that measures wind speed. It is usually made of several small cups attached to a vertical shaft. This is called a cup anemometer. As wind causes the cups and shaft to turn, the speed of turning can be used to calculate wind speed. This can be shown as a numerical readout. The meteorologist uses this instrument to find out how fast the wind is blowing.

What is the jet stream?The jet stream is a fast flowing, river of air found in the atmosphere at around 12 km above the surface of the Earth just under the troposphere. They form at the boundaries of adjacent air masses with significant differences in temperature, such as of the polar region and the warmer air to the south. Because of the effect of the Earth's rotation the streams flow west to east, propagating in a serpentine or wave-like manner at lower speeds than that of the actual wind within the flow.

What we learned about God in our study

The speed of wind can be measured but God’s power can never be measured!