Download Are Clouds Really Made From Mashed Potatoes?

Are Clouds Really Made From
Mashed Potatoes?
Main Menu
• What Are Clouds?
• How Do Clouds Form?
• White vs. Gray Clouds
• Cirrus Clouds
• Cumulus Clouds
• Cumulonimbus Clouds
• Stratus Clouds
• Water Cycle
• Atmospheric tools
What We Will Learn
• What are clouds?
• Four common types of clouds
• What are the basic features of the water cycle?
• What tools are used to measure atmospheric
conditions?
What Are Clouds?
• Clouds are visible accumulations of water
droplets or solid ice crystals that float in the
Earth's troposphere (the lowest part of the
Earth's atmosphere), moving with the wind.
From space, clouds are visible as a white
veil surrounding the planet.
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How Do Clouds Form?
• Clouds come in many shapes and forms. Some are high in the
sky, while others are so low they touch the ground. No matter
what shape or elevation, clouds form the same way, by having
water vapor condense onto small solid particles like dust, sea salt,
and pollution.
• Clouds serve several important functions. One of these is
providing rain and snow. They also help retain heat, so it doesn’t
escape quickly back into space. On hot days, clouds provide
shade.
You’re so smart!
Keep Going
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White vs. Gray Clouds
Why do clouds turn gray?
Clouds are made up of tiny water
droplets or ice crystals, usually a
mixture of both. The water and ice
scatter all light, making clouds appear white. If the
clouds get thick enough or high enough all the light above does
not make it through, hence the gray or dark
look. Also, if there are lots of other clouds around, their shadow
can add to the gray or multicolored gray appearance.
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4 Cloud Types
• Cirrus Clouds (High level)
• Cumulus Clouds (Mid-level)
• Cumulonimbus Clouds (Mid-level)
• Stratus Clouds (Low level)
Cirrus Clouds (High level)
• Cirrus clouds are ice clouds. They can look like
delicate white feathers or streamers. They are
always more than three miles up where the
temperature is below freezing, even in summer.
Wind currents twist and spread the ice crystals
into wispy strands. They are indicators of fair
weather when they are scattered in a clear blue
sky.
Cirrus clouds
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Cumulus Clouds (Mid-level)
• Cumulus clouds are the fluffy, white cotton ball or
cauliflower-looking clouds with sharp outlines. They
are "fair weather clouds" and they are fun to watch as
they grow and change in shape and size. Cumulus
clouds make beautiful sunsets.
Cumulus Clouds
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Cumulus Clouds & Sunset
Cumulonimbus Clouds (Mid-level)
• Cumulonimbus clouds are a sure sign of bad weather to come-at least bad if you don't like rain and hail! These clouds grow on
hot days when warm, wet air rises very high into the sky. Up
and down winds within the cloud may push water droplets up to
very cold parts of the atmosphere, where they freeze. When the
ice drops come back down, they get another coating of water
and are pushed back up to freeze again. Finally, they get too
heavy to stay in the cloud and fall to the Earth as hail stones.
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Stratus Clouds (Low level)
• Stratus clouds often look like thin, white sheets
covering the whole sky. Since they are so thin, they
seldom produce much rain or snow. Sometimes, in
the mountains or hills, these clouds appear to be fog.
Stratus clouds
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Rain, Rain, Go Away!
So what happens to the rain after it
reaches the ground?
How do we measure the water that has fallen?
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The Water Cycle
• The Water Cycle (also known as
the hydrologic cycle) is the journey
water takes as it circulates from the
land to the sky and back again.
•
The Sun's heat
provides energy to evaporate water
from the Earth's surface (oceans,
lakes, etc.).
• Plants also lose water to the air
(this is called transpiration). The
water vapor eventually condenses,
forming tiny droplets in clouds.
When the clouds meet cool air
over land, precipitation (rain, sleet,
or snow) is triggered, and water
returns to the land (or sea).
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• Some of the precipitation soaks
into the ground. Some of the
underground water is trapped
between rock or clay layers; this is
called groundwater.
• But most of the water flows
downhill as runoff (above ground
or underground), eventually
returning to the seas as slightly
salty water.
Weather Tools
• The weather forecast that helped you plan activities for this
week was probably made by a meteorologist. A meteorologist is
a person who studies the weather. Meteorologists use many
kinds of tools before the weather can be predicted.
Thermometers measure air temperature.
A barometer measures air pressure.
A rain gauge is a tool for measuring the amount of rain that
falls in a given period of time.
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More Tools…
• An anemometer measures wind speed.
•
Weather balloons measure weather conditions higher in the
atmosphere.
*** Meteorologist place all of their data that they collect on
to a weather
map.
Weather satellites are able to photograph and track large - scale air movements. Then
meteorologist compile and analyze the data with the help of computers.
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What We’ve Learned
• Clouds are not made from mashed potatoes!!!
• Clouds are made from water droplets or ice crystals in the Earth’s
atmosphere.
• Four very important cloud types that affect our weather are: Cirrus,
Cumulus, Cumulonimbus, and Stratus.
• The Water Cycle (also known as the hydrologic cycle) is the journey water
takes as it circulates from the land to the sky and back again.
• Meteorologists use many kinds of instruments before the weather can be
predicted.
Time to Show Off
1.
What cloud type is common during severe weather?
2.
What is another name for the water cycle?
3.
What instrument is used to measure wind speed?
4.
A person who studies the weather is called?
5.
Clouds are visible accumulations of _________or __________.
6.
Which clouds look like delicate white feathers?
7.
_______ are "fair weather clouds" and they are fun to watch as they grow and
change in shape and size.
8.
What is it called when plants lose water to the air?
Answer Key
1.
What cloud type is common during severe weather? Cumulonimbus clouds
2.
What is another name for the water cycle? The Hydrologic Cycle
3.
What instrument is used to measure wind speed? Anemometer
4.
A person who studies the weather is called? meteorologist
5.
Clouds are visible accumulations of water droplets or solid ice crystals.
6.
Which clouds look like delicate white feathers? Cirrus Clouds
7.
_Cumulus Clouds are "fair weather clouds" and they are fun to watch as they grow and
change in shape and size.
8.
What is it called when plants lose water to the air? transpiration
Helpful and Fun Links
• Cloud Concentration Game
• Weather related Vocabulary
• Readers Theater Script: Water Cycle Adventure
Standards: Identify cloud types, Identify & use proper tools to measure atmospheric
conditions, Identify the basic features of the water cycle.