Weather folklore

Name
Weather folklore
Weather forecasters
• A sunshiny shower won’t last half an hour.
• Rain before seven; clear by 11.
• Yellow streaks in sunset sky, wind and daylong rain
is nigh!
• Red sky at night, shepherd’s delight. Red sky in the
morning, shepherd’s warning.
• Evening red and morning grey, speed the traveller
on his way. Evening grey and morning red, bring
down rain upon his head!
• The south wind brings wet weather, the north wind, wet and cold together.
• The west wind always brings us rain, the east wind blows it back again.
Plant forecasters
• When the dew is on the grass, rain will never come
to pass.
• When the daisy shuts its eye, rain will tumble from
the sky.
• If you see toadstools in the morning, expect rain
by evening.
• Dandelion blossoms close before a storm.
Animal forecasters
• When the birds are flying low, expect the rain and a blow.
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• Crows on the fence mean rain, crows on the ground mean fine weather.
• When a cow tries to scratch her ear it means a shower is very near!
• Cats scratch a post before a wind, wash their faces
before rain and sit with backs to the fire before snow.
• When spiders weave their webs by noon, fine
weather will follow soon.
• Expect rain and severe weather when dogs
eat grass.
• When the rooster goes crowing to bed, he will rise
with a watery head.
PHOTOCOPIABLE 1
Junior Education Plus
October 2009
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Name
Weather folklore (cont...)
Long-range forecasters
• If ducks do slide at Hallowtide, at Christmas they will swim;
if ducks do swim at Hallowtide, at Christmas they will slide.
(Hallowtide – 31 October and 1 November)
• Year of snow, fruit will grow.
• Ash before the Oak, the summer’s all a soak. Oak before the Ash, the summer’s but a
splash. (Refers to when the trees come into leaf.)
• If autumn leaves are slow to fall, prepare for a cold winter.
• A large crop of acorns – a harsh winter is due.
Cloud forecasters
• If cumulus clouds are smaller at sunset than at noon, expect
fair weather.
• A round-topped cloud and flattened base, carries rainfall in
its face.
• When mountains and cliffs in the clouds appear, some sudden
and violent showers are near.
• Mare’s tails and mackerel scales, make tall ships carry low sails.
Monthly forecasters
• If Candlemas Day be fair and bright, winter will have another flight. If Candlemas Day be
cloud and rain, then winter will not come again.
(Candlemas Day – 2 February)
• As it rains in March, so it rains in June.
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• April showers, bring forth May flowers.
• St Swithin’s Day, if thou dost rain, for 40 days it will remain;
St Swithin’s Day, if thou be fair, for 40 days ‘twill rain nae mair (it will rain no more).
(St Swithin’s Day – 15 July)
• Rain in October gives wind in December.
• A cold November, a warm Christmas. A warm November and a bad winter’s on its way.
• Wind in the north west on St Martin’s Day, there’s a severe winter on the way. Wind in
the south west on St Martin’s Day, there it will remain till February, and a mild winter will
come and play.
(St Martin’s Day – 11 November)
PHOTOCOPIABLE 2
Junior Education Plus
October 2009
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Name
To make a weather station
You will need:
• a piece of peg board roughly 20cm x 30cm
• a square of wood roughly 10cm x 10cm
• a wooden stake at least 50cm long
• a plastic box roughly 20cm x 10cm, or a
cardboard box covered in sticky back plastic to
waterproof it (both should have the front removed)
• a thermometer
• some metal ties in different sizes
• a plastic drinks bottle
• a couple of nails and a hammer
• a windsock (a fabric cone with a hole at each end)
• some string
• a permanent marker pen
• a piece of fabric or clear plastic.
Note: This activity should be supervised.
1. To make a shelter for your thermometer, attach
an outdoor thermometer to the inside back of the
box using sticky tape, making sure that you can see the
scale. Protect the thermometer from the elements by making
a curtain from the piece of fabric or plastic for the front of the box.
Fasten it in place with sticky tape.
2. Attach the box to the piece of peg board using metal ties. To make sure the
thermometer is secure, you could also attach it to the peg board through the box using
metal ties. (See diagram for positioning.)
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3. To make the rain gauge, remove the lid of the plastic drinks bottle, and cut off the top
section. Invert the top of the bottle into the bottle base, to act like a funnel. Use sticky tape
to keep the inverted bottle top in place. Starting from the bottom, mark the plastic bottle
at 5mm intervals using a permanent marker pen. Attach the rain gauge to the peg board
using metal ties.
4. To make the wind vane, mark the square of wood at the mid-point of the sides with N,
E, S and W. You could also mark the midpoints between these points: NE, SE, SW and NW.
Nail the square of wood to the top of the wooden stake making sure that the nail head
sticks out a little at the top. Position the square of wood so the N is on the same end as
the thermometer. Attach the windsock to the nail with a length of string.
5. Your weather station is now finished. Position away from buildings and overhanging
trees that could affect the readings. Dig a hole, put the stake into the ground, making sure
the N on the wind vane points north, then fill the hole with soil and firm the ground. Use a
spirit level to make sure the weather station is as level as possible so the rain gauge gives
accurate readings.
Note: You will need to empty the rain gauge every day to get accurate readings that are
not heavily affected by evaporation.
PHOTOCOPIABLE 3
Junior Education Plus
October 2009
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To make a hygrometer (humidity)
Junior Education Plus
October 2009
7. Place the hygrometer in a spot near the weather station. If it’s humid, the hair will expand and the
pointer will point down, if the air is drying out, the pointer will point up. If you record the humidity
patterns over a period of time and compare it to weather records, they will help you to forecast
the weather.
6. Make a mark on the block of wood to show the position of the pointer at this point (see diagram).
5. Glue one end of the three strands of human hair to the higher nail then, making sure the
hair is pulled taut and is perpendicular to the pointer, glue the other end of the hair to the plastic
pointer as shown in the diagram. Ask a classmate to hold the pointer straight while you glue the hair to
the triangle.
4. Hammer the other nail into the block of wood about 15cm above the first nail and a little to
the right.
3. Attach the 5p coin to the pointy end of the triangle using sticky tape.
2. Using the hammer and nail, attach the triangle to the block of wood towards the bottom making
sure that the triangle moves freely on the nail. (See diagram for positioning.)
1. Pierce the plastic triangle with a nail half way along the 4cm side.
Note: This activity should be supervised.
• a block of wood roughly 20cm x 30cm
• two small nails and a hammer
• three strands of human hair about 20cm long
• an isosceles triangle cut out of thin but stiff plastic (one side 4cm, two sides 7cm)
• a 5p coin
• sticky tape
• glue.
You will need:
Name
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• a straw
• sticky tape
• a piece of A4 white paper.
To make a barometer (air pressure)
Junior Education Plus
October 2009
How it works
A barometer is used to forecast the weather by measuring changes in air
pressure. When air pressure is decreasing, it often indicates the arrival of low
pressure that frequently brings clouds and a good chance of rain. Increasing air
pressure suggests high pressure is approaching and with it, clearer or finer weather.
With this experiment, you will know when the air pressure is high because the balloon lid will be sucked inwards.
This will make the straw point up. When the straw points up, it indicates that fine weather is on the way. When
the air pressure is low the balloon lid will be pushed outwards making the straw point down. When this happens it
indicates that unsettled weather with rain is on the way so you might need your umbrella!
6. Monitor the straw over a few days and mark on the paper when it moves.
5. Stick the A4 paper to the wall and mark the starting point of the straw.
4. Place the jar in front of a wall, making sure it’s away from a busy area.
3. Place one end of the straw in the middle of the balloon lid and stick it in place
with sticky tape. Make sure the straw is long enough so the other end extends
over the end of the jar.
2. Stretch the body of the balloon over the top of the glass jar to form an
air-tight lid.
1. First, cut the neck off the balloon.
Note: This activity should be supervised.
• a glass jar
• a balloon
• scissors
You will need:
Name
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Name
To make an anemometer
(wind speed)
You will need:
• five plastic vending cups
• two straight plastic straws
• a pin
• a hole punch
• a stapler
• a sharp pencil with a rubber on the end
• paint.
1. Take four of the plastic cups and punch a hole 1cm below the rim of each one. Paint one
of the cups a different colour.
2. Take the fifth cup and punch four evenly spaced holes 1cm below, and around the rim.
Punch another hole in the middle of the base of the cup. This cup will be the one in the
centre (see diagram).
3. Take one of the plastic cups with only one hole. Feed the straw through the hole. Bend
the end of the straw and staple it to the inside of the cup – on the opposite side of the
hole (see diagram).
4. Repeat stage three with one of the other cups with one hole.
5. Take one of the cups with the straw attached. Feed the loose end of the straw through
two opposite holes in the five-holed cup (see diagram). Attach another one-holed cup to
the end of the straw and staple into position.
6. Repeat stage five with the other cup and straw, feeding the straw through the remaining
two opposite holes in the central cup and attaching the last cup on the end of this straw.
7. Align all the cups so the open ends face the same way (clockwise or anticlockwise).
8. Push the pin through the drinking straws where they intersect.
9. Push the rubber end of the pencil through the hole in the bottom of the central cup and
push the pin into the rubber as far as it will go.
ILLUSTRATION © IAN ESCOTT/BEEHIVE ILLUSTRATION; WORDS © SUE JACKSON
10. The anemometer is ready! Take it
outside and hold it up in the wind.
To calculate wind speed:
Count the number of times the
anemometer rotates in exactly one
minute. This is the revolutions per
minute (RPM). (The coloured cup
should make this easy to see. Count
each time it passes you.) Convert
your answer for RPM to miles per
hour (MPH) using this formula: RPM
X 0.2142 = MPH.
Example: If the anemometer rotates
30 times in one minute, the MPH is:
30 x 0.2142 = 6.426. So, the wind
speed is 6.4 miles per hour.
PHOTOCOPIABLE 6
Junior Education Plus
October 2009
www.scholastic.co.uk/junioredplus