Critical to understanding the unique climate effects on your design site are the observations and documentations you make throughout the year. A nice companion to the optional week three activity: Sit Spot is to set up some simple tools to observe weather events and site features as well as keeping a phenology journal. Phenology is the study of the timing of natural events. Of course, you can purchase many of these items from a manufacturer, but we encourage you to build a few of your own as well.

• Purchase a simple indoor/outdoor thermometer and humidity meter. One that records the min/max temperatures and allows you to reset it is ideal.
• Build a wind vane (measure surface wind direction)
  • , http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Wind-Vane)
• Build an anemometer (measure surface wind speed)
  
  • https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bring-science-home-wind-speed/
  • http://www.ciese.org/curriculum/weatherproj2/en/docs/anemometer.shtml
  • https://www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/cub_energy2_lesson07_activity1
• Build (or purchase) a rain gauge
  • https://www.wikihow.com/Build-a-Rain-Gauge
• Build a snow gauge
  • https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/snow-gauge/
  • https://madis-data.noaa.gov/snow_measurements.html
  • https://www.lowes.ca/articles/building-a-snow-gauge_a948.html
  • https://makezine.com/projects/diy-hacks-how-tos-snow-monitoring-scale-2/

Dedicate a notebook or an electronic file through your mobile device or computer to recording observations and measurements.

Fields in your records could include:

• Date
• Time
• Temp
• Humidity Max/Min
• Precipitation Type
• Precipitation Amount
• Wind Direction
• Observations  (Notes about the dynamics of the weather, sightings of animals, questions about trees or plants...)

 

For this assignment:

1. Check out the examples above or browse the internet for other ideas.
2. Get yourself started with a thermometer/humidity meter, wind vane, or a rain guage.
3. Set up a journal to record observations.
4. Select seven days over the next two weeks to collect data. Submit a short report summarizing your activity and data.