Wonderful Weather July 1, University of Kentucky, Center for Applied Energy Research 2540 Research Park Dr., Lexington, KY th grade weather experiment

Overview Experiment Objectives Materials Procedures General Observations & Helpful Hints

Experiment Objective To heighten the student’s awareness of weather by allowing them to observe weather conditions and to discover weather related phenomena in their environment.

Discussion (before demos) Describe weather conditions on a given day. Describe weather changes that occur from day to day. Identify some weather related phenomena in the environment. Discuss the different components of a weather station. Discuss and make a rain gauge. Discuss the phenomena of rain and make it rain.

Rain Gauge Experiment 1: Materials A printed copy of the “Rain Gauge” A straight-side container 2-3 oz Scissors Clear tape 2”

Rain Gauge Experiment 1: Procedure 1.Cut out the Rain Gauge Ruler. 2.Stand the ruler outside of the container so that the ruler’s bottom rests near the container’s bottom. 3.Tape the ruler to the side of the container so that the ruler is completely covered and sealed by the tape. 4.Place the rain gauge outside on a rainy day and measure the precipitation.

Experiment 1: Rain Gauge General Observations & Helpful Hints Rain clouds are made of droplets of water so small there are billions of them in a single cloud. How much rain falls during a shower, or during a day, week, or month? You can find out by measuring it with a rain gauge.

Experiment 2: Make it Rain Demonstration Point out the relationship between air temperature and air density. Draw a profile of a sea coast and show how the sun warming the land more quickly than the ocean creates off-shore breezes. On a map show how the difference in temperature between northern and tropical regions drives the winds and that all weather is a result of fluids of different density flowing over one another. On a map show the Atlantic Conveyor, which is the circulation system for all the oceans of Earth and is also driven by differences in density.

Experiment 2:Make It Rain Materials Large, wide-mouth container Hot Water Ice cubes Plate to hold ice cubes

Experiment 2: Procedure 1.Pour a few inches of very hot water into the glass container and cover with the plate. 2.Allow water to sit for a few minutes. 3.Place ice cubes on the plate. 4.Watch what happens.

General Observations & Helpful Hints Experiment 2: Make it Rain The cold plate causes the moisture in the warm air to condense and form water droplets. This is the same thing that happens in the atmosphere as warm air rises and meets colder temperatures high in the atmosphere. Water vapor condenses and forms precipitation that falls to the earth as rain, sleet, hail, or snow.

Resources Edmund Scientific Wards Scientific Internet weather sites