Weather

What students will do

Students observe condensation forming on a cold pack placed over a warm water container, then watch capillary action through blotting paper in coloured water to model transpiration in plants. Two stacking containers with hot and cold water and food dye reveal how temperature drives air and water movement, and thermometers are then used to measure the temperature difference between the layers. Students make a shaving-foam rain cloud and slowly pipette food dye through the foam to model how rain forms when clouds become saturated. Working in pairs, students model rainfall erosion using sugar cubes and a pipette. The session closes with a tornado-in-a-bottle and a globe demonstration of where cyclones and tornadoes form around the world.

Curriculum outcomes

Victorian Curriculum v2.0 content descriptions addressed in this session.

• VC2S2U07

  Investigate how the movement of water and air in the atmosphere produces weather events including rain, wind and cyclones

• VC2S2U07

  Observe and model evaporation, condensation, transpiration and precipitation and connect these processes to the water cycle

• Use simple temperature measurement to compare hot and cold air masses, and discuss how daily and seasonal weather affects decisions in everyday life