Check out this rain cloud in a jar weather experiment! It’s a simple way to teach your children science even on a rainy day or even in a jar!
WHAT YOU NEED
- a clear glass/mason jar
- tap water
- shaving foam
- blue food coloring
- dripper
HOW TO MAKE A RAIN CLOUD IN A JAR
First off let’s make the ‘rain’ for our simple experiment by taking the food colouring and mixing a few drops into some water. Mix together and set it aside.
Next fill the glass jar about 3/4 of the way full with tap water. Then add a ‘cloud’ using shaving cream, and make sure it is a fluffy cloud with plenty of cream!
Now let’s make it rain in a jar, use the food colouring or dipper to suck up some of the colored water and then gently squirt it on top of the shaving cream cloud. Continue to add blue droplets to the cloud.
Notice that the more droplets add to the cream cloud, our cloud becomes heavier and heavier. As the clouds fills up with more ‘rain’ it makes its way through the cream and drops into the water underneath in the jar.
RAIN CLOUD SCIENCE
While this simple experiment is easy and fun, it does explain how clouds form.
Water vapor rises into the air, but when the vapor hits cold air it turns into droplets of water. The droplets condense onto tiny particles of dust. When billions and billions of these droplets continue to join together, a visible cloud forms.
Over time, the droplets that make up the cloud can attract more water to themselves. And the water droplets continue to grow and become heavy enough that gravity pulls them down as raindrops. The water falls back to the ground as rain.`
This experiment is a simplistic model of how it actually rains, but it helps gives kids a visual to how it rains from clouds!