Today we have been learning about the water cycle. Here are the children's water cycle diagrams.
The water cycle by L
We played a fun dice game from the Mr Q Earth sciences curriculum where the children were water droplets making their way through different parts of the water cycle. We also tried out some experiments to find out what happens to rain when it lands on different types of rocks and soils. The children discovered that clay is impermeable but that water soaks easily through compost and gravel.
We discussed the water table and made a mini aquifer.
We also have a glacier forming in our freezer; you'll have to wait for tomorrow for that one!
Today we looked at how artists represent clouds in their paintings. We discussed the cloud types we had been learning about and thought about their shapes and colours. The children painted a landscape and 2 different cloudy skies. We than placed our landscape against the different cloudy backgrounds to see how the atmosphere of the painting changed.
Storm by R
A mackerel sky at sunset by L
Bad weather approaching by L
We also did a quick experiment to see how frost forms.
Fill an empty can with crushed ice.
Stir in some salt to encourage the ice to start melting.
Watch and wait.
The melting ice takes heat from the can making the can really cold. Water vapour in the air surrounding the can condenses on the can. If you wait long enough, the water droplets on the outside of the can will get cold enough to freeze into frost. Remember the frost comes from the air around the can, not from the ice inside.
Today we have been investigating clouds. We looked up what the different cloud types are and worked out what type we have today. We then used this information to decide what might happen with the weather over the next 24 hours.
We have tried several experiment to make clouds. Below is a video of our most successful experiment.
To make a cloud you need an empty bottle, blue-tac, rubbing alcohol (brand name Isocol near the plasters in Woolworths), and a balloon pump.
Put a small amount of alcohol in the bottle (evaporation will begin).
Put the balloon pump into the bottle neck and seal around it to make the join airtight with blue-tac.
Pump air into the bottle to raise the air pressure inside.
Quickly pull the pump out lowering the air pressure again.
As the pressure lowers the evaporated alcohol will condense and form a cloud.
Today we discussed the difference between weather and climate and investigated different climate zones in Australia and globally. We used climatology information available on WeatherZone to find out about the average temperatures and rainfall in different parts of Australia. We used this graph to identify the climate type.
The children made this model to show how rain falls over mountains making a rain-shadow or desert on one side. This can be clearly seen to the west of the great dividing range in Australia.
Heavy rain clouds cannot rise over the mountains and dump all their rain on the east side.
This afternoon we also tried making a cloud in a bottle, making a barometer and investigating the greenhouse effect. In the picture below the children are estimating the cloud cover by looking at the sky in a mirror divided into eights.
Today we continued with our weather unit study by finding out how the weather is measured. First we made our own thermometer (pictured below). You just need a glass bottle with a lid, a straw, blue-tac and a ruler. First make a hole in the lid and push the straw through. Seal around the straw to make it airtight with blue-tac. Fill the bottle with water (food colouring makes it easy to see). Screw on the lid and the water will rise up the straw a little. Stick the ruler to the bottle. The level of water in the straw is room temperature. Next we placed our thermometer in a bowl of hot water and watched the temperature rise - the water rose up the straw. Next we plunged the thermometer into icy water to see the temperature fall again. We explained what was happening in therms of water molecules becoming more active with the heat and spreading upwards.
You could take this experiment further and mark the points of boiling water and melting ice (O°C and 100°C) and then divide the space into 1°C intervals. We decided to try using some commercial thermometers to find the temperatures of water samples (top).
Next we made an anemometer and weather vane to measure the speed and direction of the wind. There is a good tutorial in the book "Make it Work - Weather". It hasn't been very windy today but we were still able to test our measuring devices in the garden.
Weather vane by L
Anemometer by R (Wind blowing from the left will push up the gauge, the stronger the wind the higher the indicator match will rise)
We are going to spend the next 2 weeks doing a unit study on weather. We will use this ready made unit from Intellego as our core curriculum. It has lots of different reading, animations, websites, experiments and craft activities. I'll be supplementing this with lots of experiments, mainly from these 2 books- "365 Experiments" and "Make it Work: Weather". The "Make it Work" series are currently out of print but most seem to be available at our library or from second-hand sellers. The "365 experiments" book has a whole section on weather experiments. You can get the book from many discount book stores or from Amazon.
The children will also have assigned reading from our collection of weather books and others which we find at the library. We'll also use the weather section from the Mr. Q Earth Sciences curriculum.
Today we began by setting up our weather station kit outside. It has a thermometer, rain gauge and anemometer. We recorded our prediction for today's weather and compared it to the weather forecast at WeatherZone. The children took a photograph of the clouds and found out what type they were. Each day we'll also record the actual weather and later use the information in graphs and charts.
Today we were talking about wind direction. The children made some windmills to catch the breeze. Watch this tutorial to find out how to make them.
