Television meteorologist Betsy Kling (WKYC-Channel 3 in Cleveland, Ohio) mentioned during a recent weather forecast that 66 percent of the time we can expect tomorrow's weather to be similar to today's weather.

Called the Persistence Method, it's just one tool meteorologists use to help create weather predictions. It's that other pesky 34 percent of the time that distresses people.

If you think about it, few things affect us as much as weather. It dictates how we dress, what we do for recreation and sometimes what we eat for dinner. Weather conditions control a huge part of our lives each day.

As a matter of fact, the weather is so important to us, idioms (phrases that have a meaning different from the literal) about the weather have become part of our language. For example, you would never want to be considered a "fair-weather friend."

A weather vane will not help you find a good pal, but it will accurately show you which direction the wind is blowing. It is one of the oldest instruments made to help predict the weather. It always contains a part that freely turns into the wind with one end usually pointed like an arrow and the other end wider so the wind catches both sides equally.

Today, early weather vanes are considered very important types of folk art. Some folk artists sculpted toys and decoys, such as ducks and geese, for their weather vane wind indicators. This one uses a fish made from a foam meat tray to point the direction of the wind, but you could use any shape you prefer as long as one end is narrower than the other end. I found the directions at Disney online at www.familyfun.go.com.

Supplies you will need to build a weather vane:

2 large, clean foam meat trays.

Scissors.

Nail and hammer.

3 corks.

Permanent black marker.

2-foot wooden dowel with 1/8-inch diameter.

6 beads with 5/8-inch holes.

Plastic drinking straw.

Tape.

Clay flowerpot with drainage hole in bottom.

From one of the foam trays, cut a 1-inch circle to use as a washer and two strips of foam, 1½ by 3 inches, for direction markers. Label the ends of one strip 'N' and 'S' and label the other one 'E' and 'W'. Use the nail and hammer to gently tap a hole through the centers of the foam pieces and the corks.

From the second foam tray, cut out a large fish. Make sure the mouth is narrower than the tail. You may decorate it on both sides with markers, if you'd like.

Tape the drinking straw vertically onto the fish.

Plug the hole of the flowerpot with a cork. You may need an adult to help you trim it so that it fits snugly into the hole. Fit the end of the dowel into the cork.

Thread onto the dowel in this order: one bead, a cork, the direction markers, two beads, and the foam washer. Slide the straw onto the dowel and top with another cork and the remaining beads.

Set the finished weather vane on a deck or fence post, orienting the direction markers with a compass to show true north, south, east and west.