Teacher
J Hoeffner
Lesson Topic
Cloud in a bottle.
Lesson 9
Class/Grade Level
Science 8
Period/Time : 1 period
Daily Objective:
- Identify and replicate conditions necessary for cloud
formation.
-
Essential Question Essential Motivating Question Every year hundreds of
thousands of dollars worth of damage and hundreds of lives are lost as a result of
hurricanes in the Atlantic basin. Why are hurricanes so devastatingly damaging and are
they becoming more intense?
As Mayor of a local coastal town, what instructions will you give to your citizens to
prepare for the oncoming hurricane. If you decide to evacuate, at what point would you
give that instruction?
Subquestions: How does cloud formation in hurricanes occur?
Procedures
Warm – Up: View Video clips of clouds building and pictures of different types of
clouds..
What is happening? What conditions are needed for cloud formation?
Class discusses.
Development of the Lesson
 Students conduct lab of cloud formation. All students must have signed safety
contract, must be wearing closed toe shoes, have hair tied back and wearing
googles.
 Students must answer questions on top of lab paper before getting lab materials.
Student Product: Students will create clouds in a 2 liter soda bottle. They will illustrate
and label diagrams of their process, explain how clouds form, and analyze to role of
water vapor and smoke in coalescence.
TITLE:
How to make clouds
Name & Date__________________________
PURPOSE: The purpose to this activity is to demonstrate to the students the direct
effects of pressure and temperature on cloud formation.
TO MAKE CLOUDS WE NEED:
 WATER
 AIR
 CONDENSATION NUCLEII
 SOME TYPE OF ENERGY TO START CLOUD FORMATION
PROCEDURE:
1. Place about 100 ml of hot water into a 2-liter bottle.
2. Put the lid on the bottle; squeeze 3 times to force water vapor into the air in
the bottle.
3. Take the lid off the bottle, light a match, hold the lighted match over the
mouth of the bottle, blow the match out and drop it quickly into the bottle.
4. Put the lid on the bottle again, squeeze the bottle several times.
RESULTS:
ACTION
PRESSURE
high or low
TEMPERATURE
Warm or cool
CLOUD FORMATION
Clouds / no clouds
DIAGRAMS: Draw and label each result of squeezing and releasing the bottle, be
sure to label: water, bottle, condensation nuclei, cloud, low pressure, high pressure,
water vapor.
Squeezing the bottle
Releasing the bottle
ANALYSIS: Answer using complete sentences
We have already learned that clouds require water vapor and condensation nuclei to
form. What roles do smoke and water play in cloud formation? ________________
___________________________________________________________________
How is air pressure affected by squeezing and releasing the bottle?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
In a paragraph, explain how clouds are formed.
Be sure to include:
 The role evaporation, condensation and condensation nuclei play in cloud
formation.
 The role air pressure and moisture play in cloud formation.
 Data / evidence from your lab to support your explanation
CLOUD FORMATION
Name & Date_______________
There is always water in the air around us, but it's not always visible. It's in
the air as a gas called water vapor. Water is a liquid. It becomes a gas in the air by
evaporation. Water can exist as a liquid, but when water is heated enough it
changes into a gas. This gas is called water vapor. Scientists call this process
evaporation.
Along with water vapor, there are little dust particles in the air. When the air
becomes cold enough, the water vapor starts changing back into water, collecting
on the dust in the air. Scientists call this process condensation. It's where water
vapor turns back into water.
If the air temperature is warm, then more water can stay in the air. If the air
temperature is colder, then less water can be part of the air. When air cools, the
water vapor in the air condenses.
#1. When water vapor changes back to water, this process is called:
Evaporation
Precipitation
Condensation
#2. When the air temperature is warmer than usual, the amount of water that can
be part of the air:
Increases
Decreases
Remains constant
#3. The process where water changes into water vapor is called:
Evaporation
Precipitation
Condensation
#4. When the air temperature drops, what happens to the water vapor it contains?
It remains a gas
It condenses and becomes a liquid
It freezes and becomes a solid
#5. Scientists call the dust particles used in condensation:
Condensation nucleii
Vapor anchors
Sky dandruff
WATER CYCLE PUZZLE
The Word
Starts
With this
Letter
W
O
E
P
C
R
S
G
R
W
NAME & DATE_______________
Hint
A substance that is very
important to us. We need it to
live, and it covers over two
thirds of the surface of the
Earth.
A large body of water on the
surface of the earth.
A process in which liquid water
turns into water vapor (a gas).
In transpiration, water from
these objects evaporates into
the atmosphere.
A fluffy-looking object in the
sky that contains tiny water
droplets or ice particles. It is
formed when water vapor
condenses.
This type of precipitation is
water that falls from clouds in
a liquid state.
This type of precipitation is
water that falls from clouds in
a fluffy, frozen state.
A large, slowly-moving river of
ice.
A large, flowing body of water
that usually empties into a sea
or ocean.
The process in which water
circulates from the oceans to
the clouds to the land to the
rivers, and then accumulates
back into the oceans.
Answer
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