Rain, rain, be safe! After all that rain we had this weekend, my kids asked me how does rain form?
I thought about a great experiment , so that my kids could learn a little bit about water conservation or even just the weather in general.
First, I used the following smart words: Evaporation, condensation, precipitation, collection.
Making rain:
Items Needed:
shaving cream
small glass or small jar
medium glass
blue food coloring
water
We placed approximately 3 tablespoons of water in the small mason jar and added about 10 drops of blue food coloring.
We filled the medium glass with water. We added 1-3 inches of shaving cream to the top. The more shaving cream used the longer the experiment will last.
We added the colored water to the shaving cream drop by drop.
We continued dropping the water onto the shaving cream until we observed it getting too heavy and “rain” started to come out below.
This experiment demonstrates what happens in the clouds during the water cycle. When a cloud accumulates too many water droplets they fall in the form of precipitation. In the experiment, after a certain point the shaving cream can no longer absorb the water drops and gravity pulls them down into the water.
After the experiment, I had my kids to draw and explain what happened.
Carolina Mom 