Atmospheric Circulation: Lesson Plan

Directions

STEP 1: Cut a piece of the painter’s tarp about twice the size of the finished balloon that you want to make.

STEP 2: Lay the plastic sheet flat on a large table and fold in half. You will have a rectangular shape where one of the edges is the fold. The other three edges will need to be sealed. Since a heat gun will be used to seal the edges, the table top must be protected and noncombustible.

STEP 3: Fold one of the unfinished edges about 1 inch from the edge and secure with a meter stick.

STEP 4: IT IS IMPORTANT THAT THIS STEP BE DONE IN A SPACE WITH GOOD VENTILATION. With the heat gun on high, seal the edge that you just folded and secured with the meter stick by quickly moving the heat along the edge. The plastic sheet will quickly melt and seal the edge. It is important to keep the heat gun moving so that you don’t overheat or burn the plastic.

STEP 5: Repeat with the other two unsealed edges. In one of the edges, leave a section about 3-4 inches unsealed in a corner so that the hair dryer may be inserted to inflate the balloon.

STEP 6: Mark the unsealed corner with a marker to make it easy to find to inflate.

STEP 7: Tie a string around one of the corners as a tether so that the balloon does not fly away when you fill it.