Weather & Seasons

Last week in science we discussed weather changes and different types of weather. 

First, we looked at thunderstorms. How is thunder and lighting created? The students each got a paper bag and filled it up with air. They then quickly hit the bag with their hand and a sound was created. The students learned that hitting the bag caused the air inside the bag to compress so quickly that the pressure breaks the bag. The air rushes out and pushes the air outside away from the bag. The air continues to move forward in a wave. When the moving air reaches your ear, you hear a sound. Thunder is produced in a similar way. As lightning strikes, energy is given off that heat the air through which it passes. This heated air quickly expands producing energetic waves of air resulting in a sound called thunder.(Weather Wiz Kids). 

Then we did a thunderstorm experiment! First we filled a plastic container with lukewarm water. Then we placed a blue ice cube at one end and three drops of red food coloring at the other end. The blue and cold water sinks while the red and warm water rises. This happens because of convection. The blue water represents the cold air mass and the red water represents the warm, unstable air mass. A thunderstorm is caused by unstable air and convection plays an important part. A body of warm air is forced to rise by an approaching cold front therefore thunderstorm’s form. (Weather Wiz Kids).

After the students had to describe what a storm looks like, what does a storm have and what can a storm do?

The next few days we focused on Tornadoes. We watched various videos and read various non-fiction stories about Tornadoes. The students used that they learned from the readings to describe what a tornado looks like, what they are and what they have. We also did a experiment (I forgot to take pictures). We filled a mason jar with water and added vinegar and liquid soup. Then we tightened the lid and shook it up! The liquid turned into a small tornado because the swirling motion formed a vortex. 

 After that learned about hurricanes! Again we read various non-fiction books and watched some videos on Hurricane Katrina.