*Note:
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Abstract
Before you head for school for the day, you might check the weather to see whether or not you need to wear a jacket or bring an umbrella. It is pretty easy for you to check the TV or internet to see what the weather will be like today, tomorrow, or even next week. The modern-day science of meteorology, or studying and predicting the weather, has many advanced tools at its disposal that make it easy for you to get this information.
How did people predict the weather before the invention of radar, satellites, and computers? Predicting the weather could be a life-or-death situation for sailors braving long ocean voyages, or farmers planting crops that they needed for the year. Before modern times, many people would use simple homemade devices or signs observed in nature to predict the weather. Have you ever seen a weather vane on top of a barn, pointing in the direction the wind is blowing? What about hearing a saying like "red sky at night, sailor's delight; red sky at morning, sailors take warning," or if that if cows are laying down in their fields, rain is coming? Is there any real science behind these sayings, or are they just myths?
Do an experiment to find out, by comparing three different methods of predicting the weather:
Use homemade measurement instruments, like a
hygrometer, barometer
and weather vane. You will need to do research on what these instruments are, and how to build them yourself.
Use observations from nature, like the ones mentioned above. Old sayings may vary depending on where you live — ask some adults in your area, or do research on line to look up more of them.
As a control, use a professional forecast from a TV station or weather website.
For a period of a week or more, use each of the three techniques to predict the next day's weather. The following day, record the actual weather. Which techniques are the most accurate at predicting the weather? Which are the worst?
If you need help getting started with your research for this project, see the references in the Bibliography.
Do you have specific questions about your science project? Our team of volunteer scientists can help. Our Experts won't do the work for you, but they will make suggestions, offer guidance, and help you troubleshoot.
The atmosphere is a blanket of gases, surrounding Earth, that creates our weather. Meteorologists study the measurements and motion of the atmosphere, and changing events within it, so that they can predict the weather. This weather forecasting helps the general public and people who work in industries such as shipping, air transportation, agriculture, fishing, forestry, and water and power better plan for the weather, and reduce human and economic losses.
Read more
Mechanical engineers are part of your everyday life, designing the spoon you used to eat your breakfast, your breakfast's packaging, the flip-top cap on your toothpaste tube, the zipper on your jacket, the car, bike, or bus you took to school, the chair you sat in, the door handle you grasped and the hinges it opened on, and the ballpoint pen you used to take your test. Virtually every object that you see around you has passed through the hands of a mechanical engineer. Consequently, their…
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Life is all around you in beauty, abundance, and complexity. Biologists are the scientists who study life in all its forms and try to understand fundamental life processes, and how life relates to its environment. They answer basic questions, like how do fireflies create light? Why do grunion fish lay their eggs based on the moon and tides? What genes control deafness? Why don't cancer cells die? How do plants respond to ultraviolet light? Beyond basic research, biologists might also apply…
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General citation information is provided here. Be sure to check the formatting, including capitalization, for the method you are using and update your citation, as needed.
MLA Style
Finio, Ben.
"Predicting the Weather." Science Buddies,
17 May 2023,
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/Weather_p001/weather-atmosphere/predicting-the-weather.
Accessed 28 Nov. 2023.
APA Style
Finio, B.
(2023, May 17).
Predicting the Weather.
Retrieved from
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/Weather_p001/weather-atmosphere/predicting-the-weather
Last edit date: 2023-05-17
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