Weather is a constant in our environment. It is something you can observe and study with your children every day.

 

 

 

Clouds

 

Clouds are dramatic in the summer. They are a large
part of our surroundings and weather conditions.
Clouds are a part our atmosphere (sky) where there are
many gases, such as oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide and
water vapor.

How do clouds form?
When water evaporates or becomes water vapor it goes up in
the atmosphere (sky) because it is lighter than the air.
The temperature gets colder in the higher part of the
atmosphere (sky) and the water vapor condenses or
turns into water or ice. The water drops and ice crystals turn into clouds.
When water is a gas you can't see it in the sky. Once it
turns to liquid or ice it forms into a cloud.

Try this.
Look at the bottom of clouds.

Do they look like the bottom of an egg carton?

These clouds have a large amount of rain and are ready drop lots of water.

Are the clouds thin?

These clouds have very little water in them.
The color of clouds

Usually clouds are white but sometimes they look gray.
Clouds turn gray when they are full of water. A very dark gray
cloud is called a thundercloud.

Have you ever heard thunder? 

Thunder happens after lightening. If you see
lightening and count slowly until you hear the thunder you will know
how far away the lighting was. For every number you count
tells how  many miles away the lightening was. If you counted
to 6 that means the lightening was about 6 miles away from you.
A greenish cloud usually has hail in it. When hail
falls it is like round ice cubes hitting the ground, cars and
even your house.

What happens to clouds?

After the cloud's water falls to the ground,  the cloud turns back into a gas (water vapor.)

What is fog?
Fog is a cloud that is on the ground. You can walk through
a cloud when it is foggy outside!

Clouds help our weather.
Clouds are like a blanket at night covering the earth.
They keep the earth warm. Clouds help keep us cooler during the
day by blocking some of the heat from the sun.

There are many kinds of clouds. There are at least 30 names
for them.
The three main kinds are:

Look at the clouds and try to determine what type they
are.
Are they low to the ground or up high?

What shape is the cloud? 

Here is a great link about clouds.

Check out Lesson 3 for more cloud activities.