Room 506 is studying weather and how it changes with the seasons. We have been keeping track of the temperature, noticing that it has been recently warming up with the beginning of spring. Students use their math skills to identify the temperatures and compare their quantitative value. With spring here, students are reading stories about the effects of the temperature, the end of hibernation, the return of animals that migrate and the early spring flowers.
One important characteristic of spring is the increase in rainfall. Our students viewed videos on the importance of the water cycle to sustain life. They made an interactive activity showing the 4 stages of the water cycle. To demonstrate how clouds form, we put hot water in a jar and placed ice cubes on the jar’s lid. The cold meeting the hot air formed a cloud inside the jar. Then, students assisted in an experiment demonstrating how rain falls from the clouds. We filled a jar of water and released shaving cream onto the top of the water. Students predicted what would happen when they squeezed droplets of food coloring on to the shaving cream. Then they observed streams of rain falling from our simulated cloud. The students genuinely enjoyed watching the rain fall. The next time it rains, share with your adolescent that the water on earth is the same water that existed during the time of dinosaurs.
