Alpha Elementary- Home of the Gators!
Rainbow Rain Cloud is a S.T.E.M. experiment where you will learn about weather, clouds, and rain.
Clear Cup or vase
Water
Shaving Cream
Small Bowls (for food coloring mix)
Food Coloring
Spoon
Pipette "Squeezing" device
Paper Towel
In a small bowl combine 1/2 cup of water with 2-3 drops of food coloring.
Stir, and repeat with the other colors. This will be your "rain."
Set these aside.
Fill a large cup or vase 2/3 of the way with cold water.
Then, add 3-4 spoon fulls of shaving cream that covers the entire surface of the water in your cup.
This will be your "clouds."
Next, use a pipette or "squeezing" device to drop the color mixture "rain" into your "cloud" cup.
The more colored water that is added to the "clouds" the more "rain" that falls.
This is give a great example of how rain fall through clouds when there is too much water or not enough depending on the amount of drops you put in.
The Science
This experiment is a great way to teach kids about the weather, clouds, and rain.
How Does it Work?
Just like a cloud the shaving cream slowly takes in the varying colors of rain.
As the cloud fills it swells, holding as much inside as it can before reaching it's abundance.
It is at this point that the rain begins to fall.
Self-reflection presents some of the most powerful instructional opportunities in our classrooms and workplaces.
When we debrief a project we reflect on everything including the process, the choices and discoveries we made, and what didn't go quite as expected.
After all, we want to inspire deep thinking in our kids about their learning journeys.
Students will be answering these 3 questions after completing their project.
How has what we've learned made us better?
How can we apply our new knowledge to other problems?
What is its significance in the real world?
This portion of the enrichment allows for students to share their amazing ideas with their classmates or even with you!
Now that our students have had the chance to individually think about the previous 3 questions, students will be put into small meeting groups and will discuss what different ideas the students came to when completing the questions.
After a 5 minute discussion, each group will be called and 1 representative will answer for the group on what they have taken away from this experiment.