Precipitation
Notes taken from : http://www.wxdude.com/basics.html
Student Notes:
Rising warm air carries water vapor high into the sky where it cools, forming water droplets around tiny bits of dust in the air. The drops freeze to the ice crystals, forming larger crystals we call snowflakes. If snowflakes completely melt in the warmer air, but temperatures are below freezing near the ground, rain may freeze on contact with the ground or the streets. This is called freezing rain. There is another kind of precipitation that comes from thunderstorms called hail.
Rising warm air carries water vapor high into the sky where it cools, forming water droplets around tiny bits of dust in the air. The drops freeze to the ice crystals, forming larger crystals we call snowflakes. If snowflakes completely melt in the warmer air, but temperatures are below freezing near the ground, rain may freeze on contact with the ground or the streets. This is called freezing rain. There is another kind of precipitation that comes from thunderstorms called hail.
Click below to watch the video presentation of this lesson.
Resources:
The Weather Network
The Weather Dude
Google Earth
Weather Sounds
Videos: We showed a variety of the videos from the following sites. These videos were used to reinforce the concepts related to precipitation
http://www.fotosearch.com/video-footage/precipitation.html
http://www.teachersdomain.org/resources/ess05/sci/ess/watcyc/precipitation/index.html
Activities:
Precipitation Paragraph
Experiment:
Be a Tropical Rain Maker!
Try this experiment, but only with adult supervision::
Boil water in a tea kettle. Watch the steam come out and go into the air. (Evaporation)
Put ice in a metal pie pan. Hold the pan over the steam and watch the drops form on the bottom of the pan. (Condensation)
As the drops grow in size, they will get heavy and start to fall. (Precipitation)