| Lesson #7: Cloudy Weather
Overview
In this lesson students will observe clouds and learn how to identify 3 basic cloud formations. They will conduct an experiment to see how a cloud forms and view real time satellite images showing local as well as international cloud conditions.
Objectives
After completing this lesson, students will be able to:
- Demonstrate and explain how clouds form
- Be able to identify 3 basic cloud types
- Compare clouds they see outside with satellite images
- Read a satellite weather map
Materials
- Blue construction paper
- White chalk
- Clear one liter soda bottle with label removed (one per group)
- Hot water (not boiling)
- Ice cubes
- US and World maps
- Weather Learning Logs
Time: Approximately 45 minutes per day for a week
Teacher Preparation
For Activity#1: Choose an observation week during which you are likely to have days with some clouds.
For Activity#2: Preview the selected cloud identification web sites and select one that is appropriate for the grade level of the students. All sites have photographs and brief descriptions.
For Activity #3: Heat water ahead of time and bring in a thermos or other insulated container; you will need about 125ml (1/4 cup) per group. Make ice cubes and bring in an insulated container.
Procedures Activity #1: Cloud Observation
It is recommended that students go outside and observe clouds at least once a day over the period of a week. Complete Activity #2 after the first observation and before the second.
For this activity, do the following:
- Before the students go outside for their first observation, tell them that observing clouds is a very important part of weather forecasting and that clouds can tell people many things about what the weather will be like.
- Have a class discussion about some of the things they think that clouds can tell us. Ask questions such as:
- Do all clouds bring rain?
- What kind of clouds do you see on sunny days?
- Have you ever seen clouds that look like feathers, animals, cotton balls, etc.?
- Take the students outside and ask them to use the chalk and construction paper to draw at least one cloud that they see.
- Back in the classroom they should write in their Weather Learning Log as many words as they can to describe their cloud.
- The students will share their pictures and words in small groups.
- For the observation days 2-5, the students may choose to simply sketch and, once they have learned the terms, label the clouds in their Weather Learning Logs.
Activity#2: Cloud Identification
For this activity, do the following:
- Tell the students that the clouds they saw in their first observation have names and that they will learn how to identify the three basic types of clouds and to tell about the kind of weather they might bring.
- Have the students access the cloud identification web site where they will find photographs of cumulus, stratus, and cirrus clouds along with a simple explanation of the weather conditions that each type indicates.
- Tell them to find the cloud that most closely resembles the one they drew the previous day. Ask: What kind of weather does that cloud indicate? What kind of weather are we having today?
- Students can then use this information to guide them in cloud identification as they make their daily outdoor observations.
- Based on their observations, the students should be able to begin to make predictions about upcoming changes in the weather. Using cloud types to predict the weather is an activity that can be carried on throughout the school year with a different student acting as "cloud reader" each day.
Activity #3: Cloud in a Bottle
This activity can also be done as a demonstration by the teacher or other adult. For this activity, do the following:
- Before you begin, divide students into groups of three or four.
- Ask: Is there anything in the bottle? (air) What things must be present for a cloud to form? (water vapor, cooling air).
- Give each group a cup of hot water, an ice cube and a soda bottle.
- One student will pour the hot water into the bottle and screw the cap on tightly. (Younger students may need assistance in pouring the water).
- Ask the students: What has happened to the air in the bottle? How could they use the ice cube to cool the air in the bottle? What will happen when they open the bottle and put an ice cube at the mouth of the bottle.
- After 2 or three minutes, remove the cap and put an ice cube over the mouth of the bottle. There should be a cloud just below the ice cube. What happens to the air filled with water vapor when it is cooled?
Activity #4: Satellite Images
A visible satellite image, taken only in daylight, shows sunlight reflecting off of clouds near the earth's surface. For this activity, do the following:
- Have the students access Weather Underground site. (They should be familiar with this site from Real Time Lesson # 1).
- Each student, or group of students, should choose a city from the menu that is listed as having cloudy weather.
- Help the students find the city they have chosen on a United States Map.
- Have the students access a satellite image of the United States and find approximately where their chosen city would be on that map.
- Ask:
- What color are the clouds on your satellite map?
- What does the satellite map show about your city? Is it partly cloudy or all cloudy?
- What does the satellite map tell us about the cloud conditions over our school? Look outside. Do you agree?
- What could the reasons be for a difference between your observation and that of the weather satellite?
- The students should be able to determine what other parts of the country are under cloud cover.
- Using a world map, repeat the procedure above with cities in other countries.
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