Topic

: Cloud Formation

Grade Level

: Fourth

Concept

: Cloud formation results when warm, humid air
rises and cools, causing the water vapor in the air to condense
and form clouds.

Teacher Materials

:

–a large jar

–a plastic bag of ice that will fit over the jar opening

–a pitcher of warm water

–1 sheet of black paper

–flashlight

–matches

Student Materials

:

–pen and paper to record observations

Optional Extension Student Materials

:

–more jars, bags of ice, black paper, flashlights, and
warm water

–collected dust

–flour

–sand

–cedar shavings

–any other particulate materials

–white construction paper

–newspaper

–crayons

Teacher Background Information

:

Sunlight causes water to evaporate into the atmosphere. This
air containing the water vapor is heated at the surface of the
earth and rises. As it rises, it cools and the water vapor condenses
on some form of particulate matter such as dust, ash, or smoke
to form clouds.

Management Strategies

:

This activity would be most appropriately done with small groups
so that all students can view the cloud formation in the jar.
Other class members could be working on researching the different
types of clouds, drawing and labeling these clouds, researching
and drawing the water cycle, working on a forecast for the rest
of the day based on the clouds in the sky, etc. The activity
itself should not take more than 10 to 15 minutes. For safety
reasons, students should not be allowed to handle the matches.
Also, students need to be careful around the glass jars. Much
of the following procedure will vary, depending on students’ reactions,
comments, and levels of understanding.

Procedure

:

1. Ask students what some of the different types of clouds are,
what they are made of, and ask the focus question, how do you
think clouds form? The responses to this question could be written
on the board to return to later.

2. Tell the students that we are going to perform a simulation
of the forming of a cloud. Take out the jar and have one of the
students tape the black piece of paper onto one side of the jar.
Ask another student to pour the warm water into the jar until
it is one third full.

3. Light a match and hold it in the jar for a few seconds and
then drop it in. At this point, have a student quickly cover
the jar with the bag of ice.

4. Have another student (or teacher) shine the flashlight on
the jar while they record their observations.

5. Now the students will explore what happened. The following
questions can be used to help the class learn about what was happening:

–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 vapor condense]).

–What role did the match and its smoke play in the cloud formation?

(gave the water something to condense or grab on to)

–Now what would you tell me a cloud is made of? (small water
droplets)

–Ask someone to describe the process of cloud formation from
what they

just learned.

Assessment/Evaluation

:

As a learning activity in itself, assessment is not really needed,
but an option for assessment would be to have students draw a
picture of how the cloud formed in the jar. In addition, the
products of the following extension activities could be assessed.

Extension/Integration

:

As an application of what they learned, each student could draw
a picture of how a real cloud would form, and what effects the
warm earth and the cool air in the mountains would have. The
process could be repeated by students without using the match
or with dust, flour, sand, cedar shavings, or other particulate
materials to see if the cloud would still form. As an art activity,
students could construct different types of clouds by cutting
two sheets of construction paper simultaneously and stapling them
part of the way together. Then they can be filled with newspaper
and decorated.

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. A language arts activity that could be used is to have
students write weather reports and then present them to the class.
Students could also write poems about clouds or stories from
a cloud’s point of view, discussing what type of cloud it is and
what kind of weather it would bring.

Source

:

Bugenig, D. (1996).

How does a cloud form?

[On-line].
Available: ftp://ftp.unr.edu/pub/archive/mailing-lists/galileo/clouds.

Source for the teacher background information and most of the
extension activities was

myself.