We screwed a special cap containing a clear straw onto each bottle and added colored water until the straw was half-filled.
It was fun to take the thermometers outside, where it was much colder. We saw the water level go down in the straw as the thermometer cooled down!
We conducted experiments to see how hot water will move when placed in cold water. A small jar of hot water (colored red) was lowered to the bottom of a container of cold water. We watched carefully and drew pictures as we saw the hot water move up out of the bottle to travel to the top of the cold water.
We conducted a similar experiment with cold water. A blue-colored ice cube was placed in a tub of cool water. As it melted, the cold water from the ice cube streamed down to the bottom of the container.
After learning that hot water rises and cold water sinks, we discovered that hot and cold air move in a similar manner. It was interesting to learn that wind is caused when hot air rises and cold air moves in to take its place. We decided to make devices which would show the direction the wind was coming from. We used patterns to make wind vanes. We then were challenged to design and create our own original wind socks!
We tested our wind socks with a fan first and the took them outside for the real test. We found that it was important to use a compass to find out which direction is north so that we could properly orient our wind socks so that they would give accurate information.
Learning about the weather was fun!
