tremendous trees: fact file worksheet 3.2 weather watchers · pdf filetremendous trees: fact...

Worksheet 3.2 Weather watchers

follow the instructions below to make a weather vane and anemometer to help you watch the wind.

Weather vane

Once you have made your weather vane, position it carefully using a compass in an unsheltered spot to find out which way the wind is blowing.

for each group of 4 pupils, you will need:

• Non-hardening modelling material

• 1 margarine tub with lid

• Scissors

• Wooden skewer

• 2 drinking straws

• Coloured card

• 1 marker pen or felt tip

• 1 pin

• Sticky tape

• A compass.

What to do:

1. Stick a ball of modelling material to the inside of the plastic tub lid. Make sure the modelling material sits in the middle of the lid.

2. Use scissors to pierce a small hole in the bottom of your tub. The hole should be big enough for the drinking straw.

3. Place the lid with the modelling clay on the table and fix the tub on top.

4. Using a marker or felt tip mark the short sides of the tub N for North and S for South and the long side W for West and E for East.

Remember to make sure that the letters are opposite one another like this:

5. Cut the skewer to a length that is slightly shorter than the drinking straw.

6. Push the skewer through the hole in the bottom of your tub into the modelling clay inside.

7. Slide one straw (straw A) over the top of the skewer ensuring that it turns freely.

8. Cut out two card triangles and stick them, using sticky tape, facing the same way on either end of the other straw (straw B) to create an arrow.

note: your triangles need to be big enough to catch the wind.

9. Push a piece of modelling material into the top of straw A.

10. Now push a pin through the middle of straw B and into the modelling material in the top of straw A.

11. Carefully add stones inside your tub to weigh down your weather vane.

12. Select the area outside where you wish to monitor the wind and position your weather vane using a compass to make sure your N, E, S, W points are positioned correctly. Your weather vane arrow should turn to point in the direction the wind is blowing.

nW

ES

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Tremendous trees: Fact file

EvErgrEEn ForEsTsThese cold climate areas are home to conifer trees, such as pine and firs. The evergreen regions are so named because the trees do not shed their unique, long thin leaves (needles) with the seasons and therefore look green all year round. Through the long snowy Winters and the short cool Summers, conifers change only to produce fruit (cones) to disperse their seeds.

Forests of conifers grow in a band across North America, Europe and Asia. The evergreen regions provide a range of softwood timbers for furniture and buildings including cedar, pine, redwood, larch and Douglas fir. Hemlocks, cypresses and giant redwoods grow in the evergreen forests of North America. Woodpeckers and chipmunks search for food in the trees. Ferns grow on the forest floor. Moose, beavers and black bears scavenge for food on the ground.

TEmpEraTE ForEsTsThese forests flourish in the regions that lie between the tropics and the polar regions, including the UK, where the climate changes with the seasons but in general remains moderate, without extreme temperature differences between Winter and Summer.

Due to these seasonal changes in climate the broad-leaved deciduous trees that dominate these areas shed their leaves in the Autumn, remain bare over the Winter and then regrow leaves, blossom, fruit and seeds from Spring through to Summer. There are more different types of tree in the temperate forest than in the evergreen regions.

Trees include oak, ash, maple and birch which provide hardwood timber used for high quality furniture, sports equipment, musical instruments and tools. Birds and squirrels live in the trees. Bluebells, wood anemones and fungi grow on the forest floor. Worms, moles, foxes and badgers burrow underground. Larger animals include deer, wild pigs and ponies.



Weather vane





• Scissors

• Wooden skewer


• Coloured card


• 1 pin

• Sticky tape

• A compass.

What to do:















nW

ES


sky rainforest rescue



Weather vane





• Scissors

• Wooden skewer


• Coloured card


• 1 pin

• Sticky tape

• A compass.

What to do:















nW

ES


Tremendous trees: Fact file

sky rainforest rescue

Tropical ForEsTs These forests are found between the tropic of Cancer and the tropic of Capricorn, close to the equator. The weather in these regions is hot nearly all year round for 12 hours each day.

Tropical rainforests like the Amazon grow in areas where heavy rain falls almost continuously, and can be found in South America, Africa, Asia and Australasia. Tropical rainforests are home to more different species of plant and animal than anywhere else in the world. Rainforest timbers such as mahogany, sapele, teak, meranti, greenheart and ramin are used for a variety of purposes including furniture, doors, windows and picture frames, flooring, garden furniture and toys.

The Amazon rainforest is dominated by huge tall trees that reach high into the sky, teeming with wildlife of every colour, shape and kind. Creepers and climbing plants search for sunlight and dense rotting vegetation and fungi provide homes and food for the insects on the ground.

grassland ForEsTs The Savanna is a dry, tropical grassland, with shrubs and bushes and trees that tend to grow alone or in widely spaced small groups. Forests like those in the temperate, tropical and evergreen regions cannot grow here because the dry season lasts for most of the year.

The trees that do grow here, therefore, are the species which can survive without water for long periods, such as the baobab and acacia. In order to conserve moisture trees in these regions lose their leaves in the dry season, they have very thick bark and can store water in their trunks. The dead wood from the baobab is used for making paper and canoes and its roots can be crushed to make dyes for textiles and paints.

The acacia provides seeds, fruit and gum used in a wide variety of food, cosmetics and confectionary and also for its blackwood timber and paper pulp. The African Savannah is dotted with drought resistant trees, such as baobabs and acacias. When it rains the baobab fills its trunk with water which it stores for the long dry months ahead. Birds and insects live in the trees. Herds of zebra and antelope feed on the grass. Taller giraffes and elephants can reach up into the trees for fresh leaves.



Weather vane





• Scissors

• Wooden skewer


• Coloured card


• 1 pin

• Sticky tape

• A compass.

What to do:















nW

ES


tremendous trees: fact file worksheet 3.2 weather watchers · pdf filetremendous trees: fact...

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