Monday, June 27, 2011

science week: CLOUDS

thursday we talked about clouds. we watched you tube videos on clouds, learned the different names and characteristics of the kinds of clouds, drew pictures and then even MADE A CLOUD in a jar.

supplies for the cloud in a jar experiment:
glass jar
warm water
matches
ice
paper towels
black paper
flashlight
tape

im not going to type out the instructions. you can just follow the link at the top or bottom of this page.

quick review of the cloud types:
cirrus- high in the sky look like horse wispy horse tails
cumulus- middle height clouds, big and fluffy
stratus- very low in the sky, gray sheet like clouds
nimbus- rain clouds


after the cloud formed in the jar, you can remove the ice and paper towels from the top and watch the cloud float right out. we did a couple of these as the kids really loved watching it.

we also learned about the water cycle and drew out diagrams of it. garret and raelyn did a really nice job with their water cycle diagrams. wish i had take a picture to show you. any how, again, i am amazed at how much they are remembering. of course they loved the experiment and would recommend this one for kids at least 5. since garret was even a little older i had him do the part with the matches. you can click here to follow the instructions on how to make a cloud in a jar.

it had rained a bunch here this week so it was cool how it all got tied into our own weather here in greeneville.

thankful for
the internet to find cool projects
just being amazed at the creation of our world, our god is awesome!
watching my kids enjoying learning and not even realizing they are doing it
feeling like i am accomplishing something
the rain to water our dead grass

1 comment:

Tara said...

This post brings back such memories for me! Weather was something I taught in 2nd grade science. I've made lots of clouds in jars :) But totally forgot about that until you showed these pictures! I'll have to do this with my kids one day! Love that you are doing such cool stuff with them!