That's Gracie, Syd's best friend. Her hobbies are scratching my kitchen chair backs into tatters, meowing pitifully whenever the kids go outside in inclement weather (because they've left her, you see), and sleeping on top of the floor vents when the heat is on. She is the reason why I'm cold.
Anyway...
The emphasis of our brief meteorology unit is on clouds, just because Syd likes them. The first step, of course, is to learn how clouds form (well, perhaps the FIRST first step is to learn about the water cycle, but we've done that many, many times before...).
A cloud is formed when water evaporates, then rises and meets cool air. Cooler air can't hold as much water vapor as warmer air, so some of the water vapor condenses. If there are any particles in the air--pollution, dust particles, salt--then the condensation clings to that, and a cloud is formed.
Don't believe me? Make a cloud for yourself! You will need:
- jar with a metal lid. We used a pint-and-a-half Mason jar, because it's tall and clear. It's the same type of jar that I used with my Edison bulb lanterns.
- hot water. Water from the tap is fine.
- cold pack.
- matches.
Pour some hot water into the jar, light a match and blow it out inside the jar (we just dropped the match into the water after that, to make the motions quicker), quickly put the lid on the jar, with the cold pack on top of the lid, and watch the magic unfold:
And no, they can't even make a cloud in a jar without fighting, sigh.
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