Answering the Big Questions: Why does rain fall?

A grown-up might look up at the sky, see big heavy clouds building up, anticipate a rainfall and scowl. Then run to bring in the washing and cancel yet another BBQ. But a kid? A kid will look up at the sky, see big heavy clouds building up and look puzzled. And want to know why. Why does rain fall from the clouds?

The Curiousity of Kids

One of the most magical things about kids is their curiousity. And their questions. Seemingly endless questions.

We have questions like…

• How do chicks smell?
• What does incorrigible actually mean?
• What’s the most popular name in the world?
• If you do a yawn and a burp at the same time, is it a yurp?
• What does a unicorn’s poo smell of?

And, finally thanking God for the internet (which I believed would never catch on), I race to Google.

…and then just have to work out how to explain what it means.

Why Does Rain Fall?

Perhaps because I am a SAHM, with a hobby (as Littlest Angel believes) of doing laundry. Or perhaps it’s because I have too much time on my hands.

Whatever it is, I spend a lot of time checking the weather. Either on my phone or gazing upwards at the sky, trying to guess if it will rain.

….especially if we’re in the Italian mountains where clouds often bubble up over like popcorn into the sky.

And this preoccupation with rain has clearly rubbed off on the kids.

Big Boy, who is going to be a Scientist when he grows up. was especially keen to know…

Why does rain fall?

As ever, this prompted a bit of Google searching.

And this is what we came up with….

When the air cools it condenses around some dust or other particles in the air, called condensation nuclei. These small droplets then become visible as clouds. … As more and more droplets join together they become too heavy and fall from the cloud as rain.

Armed with this knowledge, we decided to set up an experiment. An experiment to see if we could make rain fall from the clouds.

Why Does Rain Fall?: The Experiment

Here’s what you’ll need:

• One glass or glass jar
• Some water
• Blue food colouring
• A pipette
• Shaving foam

• A pair of scientists
• 2 pairs of safety googles

STEP ONE:

Pour water into the glass or glass jar. You will need to fill it around three quarters to the top.

STEP TWO:

Pour your food colouring into a small bowl. (We used a gel paste so had to dissolve this in hot water first)

STEP THREE:

Shake the shaving foam can, then spray a layer of foam onto the water in the glass or glass jar.

This is the cloud in the sky. It is already holding lots of moisture.

STEP FOUR:

Fill the pipette with the coloured water.

…now, here comes the Science Bit….

STEP FIVE:

Carefully drop the coloured water, one drop at a time, onto the shaving foam ‘cloud’.

….and watch carefully.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN?

As you add more and more droplets of water to the ‘cloud’, the droplets join together and are held in the cloud.

When the cloud becomes too heavy, the droplets will fall from the cloud as rain.

WHAT WILL YOU SEE?

When your cloud is too heavy, your shaving foam ‘cloud’ will start to ‘rain’.

You will see the blue droplets that you added fall from the cloud as blue rain in the glass.

Hey presto! You’ve just made it rain!

…now we just need to work out how to make it stop raining!

Other Science Experiments

Both Big Boy and Littlest Angel loved doing this experiment.

…. and were especially excited about the shaving foam and sucking up the water in the pipettes.

In fact, they enjoyed it so much that they both asked to do it again, but with friends too.

This was really easy to set up and do and was great for independent learning

…. and of course they played with the shaving foam and pipettes for ages afterwards.

And it’s really inspired me to do some other science experiments with the kids, so watch this space!

What does a unicorn’s poo smell of?

I searched high and low for a unicorn. But, sadly, didn’t find anything.

As ever though, Google did yield some results……

….click HERE  to view

 

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