makerain

MAKING RAIN

TIME REQUIRED: Three Hours (Elapsed Time)

MATERIALS REQUIRED: Access to a freezer and stove, a pan, a pie plate, two cups of water.

LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Student will learn about the three states of water and how rain is created. The Water Cycle.

INTRODUCTION: Making rain. Sounds like something only the clouds can do. doesn't it? But in this experiment, you'll be able to see just how the same exact water changes from rain to snow or ice, forms into a cloud and back into rain again!

Step 1: Collect some rainwater if you can. If there's none available, you can use water from the tap. Just pretend that you got it from outside, Ok?

Step 2: Put the rainwater in a pan if it isn't already, and place it in the freezer. This is what happens to water when the temperature outside drops to below the freezing mark. Leave it in there until it's frozen. Pretty soon, that warm rainwater will be a big block of ice!

Step 3. Take the pan out of the freezer and let it warm up. What happened to the ice now? That's right! It melded back into its liquid form. That's what happens when you build a snowman out of snow and then it warms up outside. The snow, which is frozen water, melts back into its liquid state and your snowman turns into a big puddle! When the ice in your pan has melted, have an adult put it on the stove and heat it up to boiling. If you look closely, you will see steam coming out of the pan. That's what a cloud is: water in its gaseous state. Are you ready to make it rain, now? Then fill a pie plate with ice cubes and have an adult hold it over the steam.

Step 4: See what happens when the hot steam cloud meets the cold plate? It turns back into water! Soon the water droplets become too big and they fall to earth, and that's what we call rain!

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