there's no pressure. so just breathe.

today was the last day of the weather module in our homeschool class at the zoo.  the kids passed around a tornado tube, they made a huge pinwheel and a barometer, and they created hurricane waves.

it was a successful day.  except.  the hurricane waves demonstration went something like this.  put water in a pan. blow water with straw.  watch water splash everywhere.   see lil's mom grab her away from the project and violently sprinkle hand sanitizer everywhere like it was holy water.

creating the barometer went a little bit more smoothly.  to make your own barometer, you'll need:

- a half pint mason jar (without lid)

- balloon

- scissors

- rubberband 

- glue and glue dots

- toothpick

- index card

1.  cut the neck off of the balloon.

2.  stretch it over the top of the mason jar and secure with a rubberband.

3.  glue toothpick onto the top of the balloon (towards the middle).

4.  draw a line in the middle of the index card.  write "high" on the top, "low" on the bottom.

5.  attach the card to the jar with the middle line adjacent to the rim of the jar.

once the glue on the top of the balloon is dry, you have a working barometer.  the toothpick will indicate pressure. as pressure pushes down on the balloon, the toothpick will rise and point to high.  etc etc and vice versa.

ps.  did you know that hurricanes don't form on the equator because there is no spinning wind there?  and hurricanes that form in the northern hemisphere spin counterclockwise while those in the southern hemisphere spin clockwise.