Clouds!

In science last week, we connected our learning about the water cycle to the formation of clouds. Clouds are, of course, and important part of the water cycle. On Thursday, students observed a "cloud in a jar" experiment. There was hot water and a lit match involved, so unfortunately this one couldn't be as hands-on as I would have liked. Some photos of the experiment are below.

The water at the bottom of the jar is hot to represent the water that is heated on earth and evaporates into the air as water vapor and rises. The match introduces particulate matter for the water vapor to attach to to form a cloud. This happens in the atmosphere as well--dirt, dust, smoke, etc. combines with water vapor to form clouds.

I held a bag of ice at the top of the jar to represent the colder air up in the atmosphere. Children observed as a visible cloud began to form as the water vapor hit the colder air.

When I removed the bag of ice from the top of the jar, the cloud began to rise out of the jar. That was quite exciting for everyone. I repeated this experiment several times so that everyone could get a chance to see it up close.

We enjoyed eating "cloud parfaits" as part of a class reward for excellent first grade behavior. They are also (loosely) connected to our study of weather/clouds. :-)