Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hello! For the Science Fair in my school, I wanted to do a project on "Weather prediction through home-made instruments (like barometer, hydrometer etc.) and how accurate they are". I also wanted to compare the findings with the weather-lores. When I submitted my idea to my teacher, he has asked me to identify "Independent" and "Dependent" variables for this project. I am at a loss here. My idea was to test the accuracy of predictions made with the help of home-made instruments and establish the correlation between different weather parameters such as atmospheric pressure etc. I wanted to compare this with the weather-lores and reach some conclusion.

How would you rate this project? And how can I identify "Independent and Dependent Variables" for this project. I feel that since I am studying nature, I can't have any "Independent variables" for this project. Please help ASAP.

Hi Srishti,

Your teacher is asking good questions and trying to help you design a better experiment. In a scientific experiment, a researcher wants to have controlled set of conditions, and then change one parameter (independent variable) only to see if there is a difference in results (dependent variable). Here are some ideas for doing a controlled weather experiment.

1. You could compare weather results between your local weather station and your home and school. You would need to record results at the same time. The independent variable here is the location. Ideally you would use the same type of equipment to measure results, or at least show that your equipment gives comparable results.

2. You could compare weather results at the same location using different methods of measuring the weather. For example, you could compare results of a commercial and a homemade rain gauge/barometer. The type of rain barometer/barometer used would be the independent variable. This type of experiment would give you quantitative results.

These suggestions should help you think of other weather experiments you can do.

I think it would be more difficult to design an experiment to measure accuracy of predicting the weather.

Let us know if you have any other questions about designing the experiment.

Donna Hardy