 My name is Carmen and I'm a librarian at the San Francisco Public Library. Today, we're going to make a weather station. Before we begin, do you know what STEM mean? STEM is an acronym for science, technology, engineering, and math. So what make a weather station a STEM challenge? Well, scientists observe and record natural events in our world by using tools to make precise measurements. What are forecasts that you see on TV rely on these tools to predict changes over time? In this activity, we're going to create free scientific instruments, an anomaly that can measure wind speed, a rain gauge that measure the amount of rainfall, and a barometer that measure atmospheric pressure. All right, let's get started. The first weather instrument we're going to create is an atomometer. The materials that we're going to use are a small table tennis ball, a protractor template, a piece of string, scissors, and tape. So for our first step, we're going to cut the protractor template. Then the next step, we're going to cut out a piece of string. We're going to take one end of the piece of string and use tape to tape it to a table tennis ball. And then we're going to tape the other end of the string to the center of the protractor template. And now we have our atomometer. To use it, we hold the straight edge on top and have it parallel to the ground. Observe the angle of your string when the wind blows on the ball. We can determine the wind speed by comparing the angle with your chart. The next weather instrument that we're going to make is the rain gauge, which is used to measure rainfall. The material that we're going to use are water, a two liter bottle, gravel, or you can use fish rocks, a ruler template, marker, scissors, and tape. So the first step that we're going to do is cut the shoulder off a two liter bottle. Be careful when you're inserting the scissors and when you're cutting the bottle. Next, we're going to cut the ruler from the template. Next, from the bottom of the bottle, measure two inches by using a ruler and use a marker to mark it. So this will be our two inch mark. Next, we're going to take the gravel and fill it up to the two inch mark. Then we're going to take our paper ruler and tape it to the bottle. Then we're going to take our water and pour it until the water lines up to the top of the gravel. Then you're going to take the top of the bottle that you just cut off from earlier and put it inside to create a funnel. Use tape to cover the edges. And now you have your rain gauge. You can take your rain gauge outside to measure the amount of rainfall. For our last wetter instrument, we're going to make a barometer, which is used to measure air pressure. The materials that we're going to use are two index cards, a small jar, a tape, scissor, a rubber band, marker, balloon, a drinking straw, and a sheet of paper. So for our first step, we're going to cut the neck of the balloon. Then we're going to stretch the balloon over the opening of the jar. Once you have the balloon over the jar, use our rubber band to secure it. Now our next step, take a drinking straw and cut it in half and cut one end of the straw into a point. Then we're going to align the straight edge of the straw and tape it down to the middle of the glass. And then we're going to take two pieces of index card and tape the short ends together. We're going to take our index card and fold it at the joint. And we're going to tape it to a sheet of paper for stability. Then we're going to put our glass next to the paper structure. So each day, make a mark to where the straw is pointing at. If the straw is pointing down, the barometer is detecting falling air pressure, which indicates a storm is coming. If the straw is pointing up, the barometer is detecting rising air pressure, which indicates clear skies. And now we have our barometer. Thank you so much for joining me today. If you like studying about weather, you can become a meteorologist or a storm chaser. If you like reading books about weather or interested in careers that involve weather forecasts, talk to your local librarian for book recommendations. Be sure to check out more STEM challenges on our YouTube channel at San Francisco Public Library. Thank you again for joining me today. Bye.