Convert the time
Five minutes is one twelfth of an hour. Divide intensity by twelve for one step.
Rain Gauge Lab
Set rainfall intensity and advance five-minute intervals to measure accumulated rain depth.
Grades 3–5 · Earth Science
Your goal
Collect exactly 5 mm of rain in 15 minutes. Set intensity and advance the storm in five-minute intervals.
Reduced motion is on. The controls still update the scene.
0 minutes have passed and 0.00 mm have accumulated. The next five minutes will add 0.42 mm.
mm/h
A level gauge records rainfall depth, not the total volume falling across a landscape. Each button press adds five minutes at the selected constant intensity. The gauge adds intensity times five sixtieths of an hour, so a 60 mm-per-hour shower adds 5 mm per step. Intervals can have different intensities. Wind, splashing, evaporation, gauge errors and overflow are omitted. Reset starts a fresh empty gauge.
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Learn with Rain Gauge Lab
Rain Gauge Lab gives elementary students a way to connect a rainfall rate with accumulated depth. Set the intensity in millimeters per hour and advance the storm in five-minute intervals. The gauge adds the depth from each interval, while a bar record preserves changes in intensity. Students try to collect an exact depth within a specified time and can include dry intervals if they choose. Comparing a short heavy shower with a longer gentle shower reveals why intensity and total rainfall are different measurements.
What to look for
Read accumulated depth
The gauge adds every interval. Changing intensity does not remove earlier rainfall.
Try a dry interval
Zero intensity advances time without adding rain. Reset clears the whole storm.
For teachers and curious learners
Relate rainfall intensity, elapsed time and accumulated depth using interval-by-interval measurements. Ask students to predict what will happen, change one setting, and explain what they observe. Learn gives a starting point. Practice and Challenge offer new goals with the same scene.
A level gauge integrates constant-intensity five-minute intervals for up to one hour. Wind, splash, evaporation, measurement errors and overflow are omitted. Depth describes a level water layer, not catchment volume.