How to Simulate Rain

Demonstrate how nature makes rain with simple household materials. Great for teacher demonstrations in classrooms. Excellent lead-in activity for students learning about weather. This activity can be modified depending on age group. Extend the activity for older ages by changing the height of the pan over several experiments and record the data. Compare the data and create a table or graph to represent the differences.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Saucepan
• Water
• Frying Pan
• Ice Cubes
• Adult Supervision
• Stove Top or Bunson Burner

1. Fill a saucepan about 1/4 full with water. Bring the water to a boil. You will see steam rising from the saucepan. The water in the pan has changed from a liquid to a gas.

2. Fill the frying pan with ice cubes. Hold the pan several inches above the steam coming from the boiling water in the saucepan. Be sure to hold the handle of the frying pan carefully because steam can burn, too!

3. In a few minutes, you will see raindrops fall from the bottom of the frying pan into the boiling water. The water vapor changed forms again back to a liquid.

Tips & Warnings

• What happens? The boiling water caused water vapor (steam) to rise from the saucepan. As the steam hit the cold surface of the frying pan, it collected as moisture on the underside. Soon, the moisture became too heavy and fell as drops of water. A similar cycle occurs in nature. Oceans, lakes, and streams lose water through evaporation. The water vapor rises into the sy. In the sky it is colder, so the water collects into clouds. When the clouds become too heavy with water, drops of rain fall to the earth.
• This activity can be modified depending on grade level. Vary the height of the pan and see how long it takes for the rain to come. Compare the results. Create a table or graph showing the differences.
• USE CAUTION WITH THE BOILING WATER, STEAM, AND HOT BURNERS!!

[healthymomof5]

on 2/10/2009 Excellent project to do with the kids!5*