Build a Wind-Powered Machine

This activity involves building a tiny, wind-powered elevator: a small cup lifted by a pinwheel. You could use the elevator to lift things from the ground floor to the second floor of a house you make from shoe boxes.

Divert and Capture Heavy Rains

Students build small paper houses and design and build structures such as gutters and rain gardens to divert and capture rainwater. They then test their designs with simulated rain.

Weather Instruments

Students build a simple wind dial (anemometer) and explore how pine cones can tell us about humidity in the air.

Temperature Detectives

Students use basic thermometers to measure air temperatures under different conditions, draw conclusions about why air temperatures differ in these conditions, and apply what they’ve learned to strategies for staying cool during extreme heat events.