Hooked on Clouds Lesson Plan

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Academic Standards

 

Reading Objective:

Children will understand what clouds are made of and how they form; what weather they bring; and identify different types of clouds.

Next Generation Science Standards:

K-ESS2-1 Describe patterns in weather

1-ESS1-1 Patterns of the sun in the sky

Vocabulary: 

water droplets, fog

Use these questions to check students’ understanding and stimulate discussion:

 

1.  What are clouds made of? (tiny water droplets)

2. What can gray or black clouds mean? (They can mean that a storm is coming!)

3. What is fog? (Fog is a cloud that forms on the ground.)

4. There is a big storm! What color were the clouds just before the storm? (They were probably black or gray.)

 

Go online to print or project the Reading Checkpoint.

  • Clouds move in the sky because the wind blows them.
  • Clouds can move as fast as 100 miles per hour. That is faster than most cars go!
  • Clouds form quickly. They can come together in just a few minutes.

Materials: glass jar (any size), water, shaving cream, blue food coloring, cup, pipette or eye dropper, copies of the skill sheet

Overview: 

Make a “cloud” with shaving cream in a jar for students. Let them see what happens when it gets heavy with drops of blue food coloring and “rain” begins to fall.

Directions:

  • Remind students that when clouds get heavy with water droplets, rain falls.
  • Fill the glass jar about 3/4 full with water.
  • Squirt shaving cream to fully cover the top of the water.
  • In a separate cup, use food coloring to dye some water blue.
  • Use a pipette to drop the blue water on top of the cloud of shaving cream. Challenge students to predict what will happen.
  • As you continue to add blue drops, ask students to observe the cloud. It will become more saturated. Then the blue drops will start to fall through.
  • Ask students how this shaving cream cloud is similar to a real cloud. (When water droplets make a cloud heavy, rain falls.)