Download Making a Cloud

Making a Cloud
Grade level:
5
Strand:
Earth and Space Systems
Topic:
Weather
Specific Expectation:
Explain the formation of clouds and the effects of different cloud
formations on weather and climate (e.g., create a model of a cloud
in a jar and relate it to the water cycle; describe the relationship
between the formation of cumulonimbus clouds and
thunderstorms).
Materials Needed:
Clear glass bottle
Hand-hot water
Ice cube
Matches/saw dust/flour/sand/cedar shavings
Dark blue or black paper
Procedure:
1.
Carefully fill a glass bottle with hand-hot water.
2.
After three minutes, pour the water away, leaving just a little in the bottom of the bottle.
3.
Insert a blown out match into the bottle (allowing the smoke into the bottle) for a few
seconds, then drop it into the water.
4.
Quickly place an ice cube on top of the open bottle.
5.
Hold dark paper behind the bottle and watch as a cloud begins to appear where the warm
air rising from the bottom meets the cold air at the top. Water vapour in the air condenses
to form a cloud of tiny droplets. If the teacher chooses to let table groups perform the
experiment, students would use saw dust, sand, flour, or cedar shavings.
6.
Throughout the experiment, the teacher may choose to ask questions similar to:
• What did you see in the jar? (a cloud)
• Where did the cloud come from? (the water in the bottom of the jar)
• How did the warm water effect the cloud formation? (caused the water to evaporate
and warmed the air, causing it to rise)
• What did the ice cubes do to help the clouds form? (cooled the air [made the water
vapour condense]).
• What is the role of the smoke (or other particulates)
Scientific Explanation:
Sunlight causes water to evaporate into the atmosphere. When the air containing the water
vapour (near the ground) is heated, it rises. As the air rises, it cools and condenses onto dust
particles forming tiny water droplets. Clouds form when these water droplets come together.
References:
Baxter, N. (2004). Science Experiments. Bookmark Limited. Leicester, England.
http://www.rcn27.dial.pipex.com/cloudsrus/clouds.html
Clouds." The World Book Student Discovery Encyclopedia. Chicago: World Book, Inc., 2005.
Also available at http://www.nasa.gov/worldbook/wbkids/k_cloud.html
http://www.msnucleus.org/membership/storybooks/cloudpoem.html
www.lessonplanspage.com
Opportunities and other considerations:
This experiment can be used as a hook for an introduction to the study of the formation of clouds
and the effects of different cloud formations on weather and climate. Students will be required
to research the different types of clouds and the weather related to each type. We would link the
students to the following websites for further information:
• Clouds R Us at http://www.rcn27.dial.pipex.com/cloudsrus/clouds.html
This site provides details about the various types of clouds along with cloud formation,
links to the water cycle, and activities.
• Weather Wiz Kids at http://www.weatherwizkids.com
This site provides information for a variety of the expectations in the weather unit of the
curriculum and specifically to clouds, there are pictures and descriptions of each type of
cloud, lesson plans, and experiments.
Curriculum Extension: As an art activity, the students could construct different types of clouds
by cutting two sheets of construction paper, filling it with newspaper and decorating it. For a
math activity, students could record the clouds they see for a couple of weeks and graph how
many days they saw each type of cloud. Having students write weather reports and then present
them to the class or even writing poems from a cloud's point of view could also integrate
language arts.
By:
Audrey Macdonald and Caitlin Vezina
Clouds
by Michael J. Doherty
Cumulus clouds, fly puffy and white.
Some look like cottonballs, fluffy and light.
The nimbus clouds fly dark and low.
When you see them, it means rain or snow.
Cirrus clouds are the whispy ones and they sure can fly.
Like icy mare’s tails, high in the sky.
Stratus clouds have a layered look.
Stacking clouds as if a book.
Fog is the lowest cloud you see.
Maybe a cloud that got caught in a tree.
We thank Luke Howard for their name.
Cloud identification is an easy game.