This activity has a clear objective and it helps educators guide learning through thought provoking questions. The materials listed are easy to come by, but can also be substituted for other things around the home. For example, the clay can be replaced with just tape and you can use a needle or tack to fasten the straw to the top. Once constructed, this project is highly portable enabling quick science lesson everywhere you go. I really like how it has the child label the cardboard with the four cardinal directions after using a compass to identify North. If a compass is not available, there are many free compass apps on smart phones. You can also challenge your child to figure out the four directions on their own by tracking the Sun (rising in the East and setting in the West). Recording changes in the weather vane can be a great introduction into scientific note taking for the younger scholars and an opportunity for older scholars to try to predict weather patterns. If your child is really engaged, other activities on this site like Make a Bottle Thermometer, can be used to construct a whole weather station.