A Rainy Day Experiment

Explicit Instruction/Teacher modeling

• Read The Rainy Day by Anna Milbourne and Sarah Gill.
• Model the experiment for the class.
• First, fill your jar almost to the top with water. You can place a heavy figurine inside the jar to create the illusion that the person will get rained on.
• Then, ask students what they think clouds are. Explain that clouds are tiny water droplets that come together in the sky. Tell your students that there are various types of clouds such as cumulus, stratus, and cirrus.
• Show your students the Types of Clouds worksheet to give examples of what these clouds look like. Read the descriptions to your students.
• After this discussion, fill the top of your jar with shaving cream. Explain that these represent clouds.
• Then, tell the students that when the water is too heavy for the clouds to hold, it begins to rain. Drop about 5 droplets of blue food coloring on top of the clouds, and watch what happens!

Guided Practice

• Tell your students that they will now have a chance to create their own rainy day.
• Give each student the materials that they need to complete the experiment on their own.

Independent working time

• Give your students time to complete the experiment.
• Have students work with a partner to discuss what happened.
• Tell each group to discuss things they can do on a rainy day.