First and foremost, this is an activity that any amateur astronomer can manage. Even your relatives or friends without any experience in star gazing can join in, provided you have given them sufficient guidance. The more observers we have, the more data can be collected.

The purpose of this observation is to count the number of visible meteors that belonged to a given meteor shower and those that do not belong to this group. First, identify the constellation where the radiant lies. Watch carefully the path of the meteors. If necessary, you can trace back the path as an imaginary straight line to see whether it intersects with the radiant. If so, the meteor is a shower meteor, otherwise it is a sporadic Record the number of meteors visible per hour, both for the shower meteors and the sporadic meteors.

This is a very simple observation. Plotting the meteors' paths on star maps, which calls for more skills and experience in observing meteors, is generally not required.

To foster more accurate observations of higher scientific value, some equipment is necessary. A reclining lawn chair or a straw mat with a pillow make you feel more comfortable. Remember, comfort is essential for good observations. Do not sit and hold your neck upright as this gesture strains the blood circulation in your neck and thus reduces your eyesight. A faint flashlight or a dim red torch helps you write in the dark. A pencil and a sheet of paper is essential for recording the number of meteors as well as the starting and ending time of observation. Remember to bring a watch along with you. Avoid using roller pens. A roller pen does not write well when you are lying down with the pen pointing upwards.

Keep the duration of each observational interval at one hour . You should not observe for more than four hours during any one night, since the accuracy of your data will reduce when fatigue takes hold. To keep you alert and efficient, take a break and consume some food. Warm clothing is necessary to keep your body warm. If you go in pairs or in groups, keep you and your partners apart. Do not exchange your views, since this may introduce unwanted errors into your observation (for instance, the same meteor may be recorded twice as two different meteors). In addition, each person should look at a different part of the sky.

The limiting magnitude must be entered on the data sheet. Below is a table listing the magnitudes of the major stars in the constellation Ursa Minor.

Experienced amateurs can do a lot more. This includes recording the meteors' paths and their lengths, the magnitudes, colours, the presence of trains and their durations, etc. Observers can work in pairs. One carries out the observation with a star-map and a pen and the other records with a record sheet and a piece of watch. When one sees a meteor, he should say ‘yes' and plot the meteor's path on the star-map. He should then tell his partner the magnitude, duration, colour, whether the meteor has exploded or has a persistent train. On hearing 'yes', his partner should put down the time along with all those information that is passed to him. Do not forget to label the meteor's path. Responsibilities of the two should be clear-cut. Personal judgment should be avoided at all costs. While a binocular is helpful to the observation of a meteor train, a cassette recorder can record what has been said about the phenomenon.

A report with qualitative or quantitative conclusions like the following is always welcome: 'The majority of the meteors had exploded', or '40% (+/- 5%) of the meteors are dark red in colour', etc.. A meteor shower becomes a meteor storm when the meteors' hourly rate reaches several hundreds per hour. At this time, you can shorten the time of observation to 5 or 10 minutes, while the region of the sky being monitored can be reduced. These changes should also be specified on the record sheet.