A wind vane is also called a weather vane. It is a tool for measuring wind direction. It spins and points in the direction from which the wind is coming.
- Tag board or manila file folder
- Straight pin
- Scissors
- Glue
- Pencil with a new eraser
- Plastic drinking straw
- Modeling clay
- Paper plate
Procedure
- Cut out an arrow point 5cm long.
- Cut out an arrow tail 7cm long.
- Make 1cm cuts at the ends of each straw.
- Slide the arrow point and the arrow tail into the cuts in the straw.
- Push a straight pin through the middle of the straw and into the eraser end of the pencil.
- Stick the sharp end of the pencil into a lump of modeling clay; this will be your base.
- Put the clay on a paper plate.
- Blow on the vane and make sure that the arrow can spin freely.
The photographs below show the students in Mrs. Clarizio's fourth grade class in Garfield, New Jersey attaching their wind vanes to model houses that they constructed.
Click on the picture to view a larger image.
