Tuesday, January 20, 2015

C is for Cloud

Today the students chose to read The Cloud Book by Tomie dePaola. This led to a discussion about the clouds we have observed. 
At recess the skies were amazingly clear and blue, but when we returned from outside play, we delved further into clouds and the process of rainfall.

The science of a cloud:

The students selected lab partners and were given a cup 3/4 full of water.
Then a representational cloud, in the form of a large dollop of shaving cream, was put on top of the water.
"Can I eat it?" asked Yehuda.
"It looks good, but taste like soap. Trust me," I replied.
"But it looks like a yummy dessert," Elazar objected.
"It does look like whipped cream. But it isn't," I reiterated. 
"But..."
Thankfully they all heeded my caution.
Then each pair was given blue colored water and one micro-pipette. ("Those are for giving my sister Tylenol!" Ava exclaimed, excited to recognize the item)

Taking turns, they dropped colored water onto the "cloud". 
The water stayed clear. 
Over and over they dropped water in. Eventually the cloud became supersaturated, and the water slowly became blue.
This transformation was exciting to watch, as the water slowly turned blue. 
Most impressive about the cloud experiment was the way the lab partners took turns, happily watching when it wasn't their turn to drop.

When the experiment was done, we "recycled" the shaving cream.



Ava and Aviva stayed with their science project during this, dedicated to the experiment.


Science, sensory, literacy, and fun!





2 comments:

  1. When Mo was dropped off at home, the two women in the car said, "Is Mo wearing cologne? He definitely smells like he is!" Thanks to this blog, I now see it was shaving cream!! (He did tell me it was from a project they did in school today.)

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  2. That is funny! Ori said, "This smells yucky!" "Really? I think it smells like soap," I asked. Ava took a deep whiff, "It smells wonderful!" she sighed.

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