Nature at Home: Wild Wonderful Weather

written by Kendahl Chergosky, Communications & Education Intern

Throughout the Spring we’ve experienced all kinds of weather. From sunny days, to rain, to snow, and even thunder in late March, we have a lot of weather to celebrate. In honor of World Meteorological Day, CNC has compiled some simple crafts and activities you can do at home.

CLOUD VIEWER
Print off the image below and cut out the white space in the center. You can hold the “cloud viewer” up to the sky to compare what kinds of clouds you’re seeing up above!

CLOUD IN A JAR

This simple activity only requires a few materials! You will need:

• A glass jar or other clear container with a lid
• Ice cubes
• Aerosol of some kind (hairspray works GREAT)
• Boiling water

Step 1: Boil water. This will act as the water on the ground being heated up by the sun.

Step 2: Add your boiling water to the jar, and spray with aerosol. Cover it up quickly– you don’t want your evaporated water droplets to escape! The aerosol represents dust particles high in the atmosphere.

Step 3: Add ice cubes to the top of the lid. This will represent how water vapor cools as it rises high in the atmosphere.

Soon, you should see a cloud forming inside your jar. Give it time to take shape. Notice how the air inside the jar seems to move without any “wind” from outside. This is the warm air rising and the cool air falling.
Open your jar up to release your cloud!

Embedded below is a video walking you through the process.