April Showers Bring Umbrellas

Challenge
The average yearly rainfall in New York State is about 46 inches. To measure rainfall, meteorologists use instruments called rain gauges. They are usually a transparent cylinder with measurement markings in inches or millimeters placed outside. Rain gauges collect the precipitation for a given amount of time in the area to let you know how much rainfall there was. There is rainfall about 120 days out of the year in New York State. It’s always advised to prepare yourself for this type of weather. There are many great preparations one can take. One easy thing to do is always have an umbrella handy. Don’t have an umbrella? Well, why not design your own? Your challenge is to build an umbrella out of the provided materials to protect an area from getting wet.
 
Your design does have some criteria and constraints. The umbrella has to be large enough to protect a circle area with about a 5” diameter. The umbrella prototype should be at least 12” tall. There can only be one support beam for the umbrella to stand on its own. There can be “feet” on the bottom of the umbrella to help it stand if needed. The umbrella must endure a rainfall of about 2 cups of water without getting any rain on the specified area. Finally, the umbrella cannot be adhered in any way to the base.

Materials

• craft sticks
• tape
• pipe cleaners
• paperclips
• paper (various kinds)
• aluminum foil
• plastic cling wrap
• wax paper
• cardboard pieces
• straws
• large bin
• small bin
• measuring cup

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Hints and Tips for Success

1. Allow students planning and discussion time by having them experiment with sample materials to see how they react with water.
2. After experimenting, allow student groups to plan their final design.
3. Limit the number of materials groups can use so they are not wasting materials but being thoughtful of how they can efficiently use them.
4. For differentiation, adjust the amount of materials, change the circle diameter, enforce a different umbrella height, use a different shape as the area, use an object, such as a stuffed animal, to be covered by the umbrella to drive the height and area requirements, pour the water at different speeds, and adjust the amount of water being used. Adjustments could be made to make it more challenging or simpler.
5. Have many shape areas ready for students by using light colored pieces of paper to easily track if water dripped on the shape.
6. Place a small bin upside down in the large bin. The student umbrellas can be placed on the small bin. Then the water can collect in the larger bin and be drained.
7. Connect to mathematics by having students identify their shape areas and perimeters by using graph paper, practice measuring liquids and converting, or reading water levels (meniscus).
8. Connect to ELA by reading a story regarding the topics of the water cycle, spring, rainy days, rainstorms, flooding, or weather patterns, and discussing the importance of preparing for this weather and how it compares in preparing for other types of weather.