Weather Bugs

This week we have been weather bugs.  We have been learning about all  different kinds of weather.  We began the week by making of list of all the kinds of weather we knew about.  Then throughout the week we have read books and discussed many kinds and learned a few fun facts along the way.  On Tuesday we learned about the water cycle and how clouds are formed. 

On Wednesday we read a few fun books about clouds and did some creative writing about what a cloud might look like if we looked up in the sky.

  

Today we did a little experiment of our own to see how rain is made.  With the help of a hot plate we used our imagination and pretended it was the sun heating up.  Then we put a pan full of water on it and pretended it was a lake.

We watched closely as the water heated up and began to evaporate.  Just like it does in a lake on a hot day.

Then we filled a plate with ice and pretended it was a cold cloud. 

We put the cold plate on the pan filled with hot water.  The cold plate caused the moisture in the warm air to condense and form water droplets. This is the same thing that happens in the atmosphere. Warm, moist air rises and meets colder air high in the clouds.

Last we carefully lifted the cold plate of ice.  The water vapor condensed on the bottom of the plate and formed precipitation.  We made it rain in our classroom. The kids were all so excited to see it rain right in our classroom.  It is a very easy project and something you could try at home.