General Objective: Describe weather conditions and climates.

Lesson Objective: Students will make their own rain gauges and learn how they work.

Motivator: Ask the question "How do we find out how much water falls when it rains"

Pass out the handout "Measuring Moisture: A Rain Gauge" and read it as a class out loud or quietly.

Each group of students should get:

• Marbles
• Ruler
• Plastic bottles. Pre cut the plastic bottle’s tops off so that the top fits upside down in the bottom part of the bottle
• Colored tape
• Water
• Scissors
• 5 jars of water marked with how many millimeters are in them. Only have one marked correctly.
• Measuring Moisture: A Rain Gauge handout

1. Pass out the plastic bottles
2. Place thin strips of tape on bottle 10 millimeters apart-use ruler.
3. Place marbles in bottom of bottle for weight to stabilize the guage.
4. Pour water into the gauge up to the mark.
5. In the front of the room have the jars that are marked with measurements on a table. Have the students predict which jar is correct. Then have them test each jar and record their findings.
6. You have to dump the water and fill the gauge to the first line every time you are starting over with a new jar.

Teaching Strategies: Discussion, observation, cooperative learning, and guided discovery.

• Rain gauge- an instrument that is used to collect rain fall.
• Rain- precipitation from the sky
• Precipitation- water that falls as rain or snow.

Assessment- class discussion and the paper that they put their data on. Individual

Teaching and Learning Processes: Observing, predicting, collecting and recording data, applying, communicating.

• Use the rain gauges as snow gauges on snowy days. Students can measure the snowfall in the same fashion after the snow melts.
• Make a rainfall graph and keep track of how much or how often it rains as a class.

Ward, B; Ward, P. Meteorology. Mark Twain Media/Carson-Dellosa Publishing Company, Inc. 1994