Explainers Khushant and Christopher, from the New York Hall of Science, demonstrate how to make a weather barometer, with just some simple household materials. Adult supervision is recommended for trying this DIY project at home.

Script:

Hey! Do you want to hear a joke? Why did the man go out with his wallet open? I got it… Because he expected some change in the weather. Ha! That was funny, right? Imagine if we could actually get some change out of the weather. But today, instead of doing so, let's actually try to predict the changes in the weather. Sunny to cloudy. Or cloudy to sunny.

Now, you might say: “No sweat! My friend right here can help me.” But how come this friend knows about the weather? Is there a machine helping your friend know about the readings? And if so, can you build that machine at home?

Hi everyone. My name is Khushant, and I, along with my friend Christopher – are Explainers at the New York Hall of Science.

Today, we will be demonstrating how to make a mini barometer. A barometer is an instrument that measures the air pressure, or in normal terms, the amount of water vapor in the air. Water vapor is basically the gaseous form of water. Now, to be honest with you, when I was learning about barometers, I was super confused. How can air pressure analyze the weather? How about you Christopher?

Yeah, I agree. I never knew just a small simple device can determine how much air pressure is in the atmosphere. When I was a kid, I always wanted to know how meteorologists were able to forecast the weather. But now I know that they use a barometer to help them out. Now you guys might be confused too, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. Christopher and I have done our research, and we're going to share with you guys.

A mini barometer is able to predict the shortterm weather conditions coming your way. And before we begin, let's go over our easytofind materials: A glass jar. A balloon. Some colorful pens. A rubber band, tape, scissors, a straw and paper.

Christopher, my friend, he also has materials, and he's going to show how you guys can make a mini barometer yourself. Get ready! So the first thing we're going to do, is cut off the neck of the balloon using your scissors. Next, we're going to take the bottom of the balloon and cover the opening of the jar. The balloon should have a flat surface on top of the jar, creating a nice and tight fitting.

To make sure the balloon doesn’t come off, we're going to seal it using a rubber band. So we created the base of the barometer. Now, let's create a pointer. To make our pointer, we will be using a drinking straw, and cutting a piece of it at an angle, like so. After that, take a piece of tape, and tape the uncut end of the straw to the center of the jar, leaving the cut end sticking out.
Awesome. We finished our barometer! Now, Khushant is going to help us create the index for the barometer to measure. Back to you Khushant.

Okay. Now let me ask you a question: Are you Storm from XMen? Who can control or predict the weather? If not, then you definitely need an index to analyze your barometer.

To make one, you guys need to go outside to prevent any artificial temperature changes (eg. an air conditioner). Alright. Let's make our index. First, take some paper, and stick it to a wall using tape. Now, put the barometer right next to the paper and make three marks at approximately equal distances. One next to the pointer, and one above, and below the previous mark. Now take a pen and paint a colorful sun on the highest mark, and clouds on the lowest. Your index is ready to go! Now let’s test our barometer out and see if it’s actually working or not. Back to you, Christopher.

Now that we completed a barometer, let's talk about the science behind it. Air is all around us, and it presses down against us, causing air pressure. How do you think air pressure affects our barometer? Well, there's air pressure both inside the jar and outside of the jar’s surroundings. When we have higher pressure, it’s going to push the balloon surface downwards, indicating sunny weather. But when we have low pressure, the air inside the jar is going to push upwards, showing us rainy weather...

Music
Wallpaper Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...

Other sources:
https://bit.ly/2Fp1rqq

Explainers at the New York Hall of Science
Explainers are part of the Science Career Ladder (SCL) – the signature program of NYSCI’s Alan J. Friedman Center for the Development of Young Scientists. They explain NYSCI’s exhibits, perform science demonstrations, and engage visitors in STEM conversations.

Follow NYSCI Explainers:
Instagram: @ExplainerTV
Twitter: @Explainer_TV
Facebook: facebook.com/nysciexplainers
Web: nysci.org/learninglab/youthdevelopment