Task 1

Materials and tools for a working group:

2l PET bottle, sand, pencil with eraser, straws/skewers, drawing paper, scissors, pin/clove, paper plate

The teacher discusses with the pupils about wind. He asks them questions to try to identify their ideas about the wind: What do you think the wind is? How do I know if it‘s blowing outside when I‘m at home and looking through the window? How strong can the wind be? Can you create a wind in the classroom? If so, how? If not, why? Further he asks whether the wind can be measured. If yes, what exactle can be measured (direction and speed) and how? If the pupils are unable to answer, they will remind them of the weather reports, where the direction and speed are given.

In the first task, the pupils themselves should propose how they can determine the wind direction. They may indicate different ways – e.g. observing the movement of leaves on the ground, tree crowns, smoke from chimneys, etc. It then provides them with various materials and aids (straw, paper, glue, scissors, skewers, etc.). The task of the pupils will be to design a wind direction indicator through which they can determine the wind direction. By drawing their suggestions first, pupils are forced to reflect on the workflow and the individual steps of their work. They also learn to create simple schemes in this way.

In addition to identification of the wind direction, it is important that pupils also determine the direction of the wind; whether it is northern wind (which is colder), southern wind and so on. Pupils should be aware that where the wind comes from affects the nature of the weather. For this reason, pupils should also suggest how they can find out where the wind comes from. The easiest way to determine cardinal points is to use a compass.