Wind Speed
Wind speed is how fast air moves from one place to another.
Hold a flat tray at arm's length and blow across it. The harder you blow, the faster air moves over the tray's surface. That air movement speed is wind speed. A gentle breath moves air slowly; a hard puff moves it fast.
Explaining wind speed by grade level
Hold a paper cup on a stick outside on a windy day. The wind pushes the cup and makes it spin. When the wind blows hard, the cup spins fast. When the wind is gentle, the cup turns slow.
Projects that explore wind speed
A spinning anemometer makes the invisible visible — each rotation of the colored cup shows air moving past. Count how many times that cup passes you in one minute, and you have a direct measure of how fast the wind is blowing. More spins mean faster-moving air.
Among the five instruments you use in this project, the anemometer tells you how fast air is moving each day. Paired with readings from a thermometer, barometer, wind vane, and hygrometer, it gives you one piece of the larger puzzle a meteorologist assembles to predict tomorrow's weather.