How to make your own rain gauge

Outdoor learning is a great way to educate children (and adults!), to help them discover and appreciate the natural world on their doorstep, whether that’s a public space or their own back garden.

So, we’ve developed some easy activities for you to try at home. Here, we take inspiration from Threave Garden & Estate, near Castle Douglas in the south-west of Scotland, which has quite high rainfall compared with some other parts of Scotland.

Make a rain gauge

Find out how much rain falls where you live by making your own measuring device.

Step 1

Carefully cut around the plastic bottle about two-thirds of the way up.

Step 2

Pour in 100ml water and mark it all the way round to create a flat starting point for measurement.

Step 3

Turn the top part of the bottle upside down (take the lid off!) and place it inside the bottom part. Fix it in place with tape.

Step 4

Make a scale (we used a wooden skewer which we marked in 1cm increments with the help of a ruler) and fix it to the side of the bottle.

Step 5

Find a place outside (in the open, away from any trees) to put your gauge.

Step 6

Make sure your gauge doesn’t blow over in the wind – if you can, dig it into the ground. We placed rocks around ours to keep it stable.

Step 7

Check the rain gauge every day. Measure how much rain has been collected, then empty the bottle. Refill the bottle with 100ml water and put it back into position. If you note the rain collected daily, you’ll soon keep track of rainfall trends in your area.

What you’ll need

• An empty two-litre plastic bottle (one with straight sides is best) • Wooden skewer • Scissors • Sticky tape • Ruler • Paper • Pencil • Water • Measuring cup or jug

Is there as much rainfall where you live as we fear there might be?!

We'd love to see your rain gauge results – if you'd like to share them, please tag @nationaltrustforscotland