Living in Maryland, particularly during the change of seasons, means we can see some pretty crazy weather patterns. It is warm one day and cold the next, sunny then rainy. The weather is difficult to predict, but today, we are showing you how you can create and observe your own weather at home! Your budding scientist will learn all about evaporation, condensation, and precipitation with this extremely simple Water Cycle in a Bag experiment.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- A Sealable Sandwich Bag
- Blue Food Coloring
- A Permanent Marker
- Water
- Sticky Tape
- A Teaspoon
Let’s get started by mixing a teaspoon of blue food coloring into a separate container of water. Then, let’s make the experiment a little more fun by decorating our bag. Using your permanent marker, draw the top line of some water about a third of the way from the bottom, and the sun and some clouds at the top. You can also add a little bit of land and some trees if you’d like.
Next, pour your blue water in the bag so it reaches the water line you drew, then seal the bag. Find a window in your home that has some exposure to the sun and use your sticky tape to hang your bag in the window.
Leave your bag in the window and check back periodically to see what happens. Have your child take photos and/or write down their observations over time to document the changes within the bag.
So what is happening in the bag? When the water sits in the sun, it will start to heat up. This causes small water particles to jump from the pool of water into the air, turning into a gas – in other words, the water evaporates. When lots of tiny particles collect in the air, they turn back into a liquid and will start forming droplets on the sides of the bag. This is called condensation. After a while, the droplets will get large enough that they join together in larger droplets and fall back down into the water. This is called precipitation!
Check out the full experiment and the science behind it from Medium.com HERE.
As always, get as creative as you want, and above all, have lots of fun learning together!
We’ll see you right back here next Saturday for another STEAM Saturday activity! Scroll through the rest of our website to learn how Critchlow Adkins is Building Brighter Futures for the children and families we serve!
