Children, especially boys, are inquisitive and curious beings by nature. They love to explore the known (prior knowledge) and the unknown (knowledge taught later). Exposing your children to Science education helps to bridge the gap and teaches them valuable life skills; like observation, communication, analyzing and reporting. These skills allow children to deal and adapt with life when they are in the real world.
This is a simple yet effective experiment that helps your child observe the water cycle pattern.
Materials: An empty glass jar, a kettle/jug of hot water, a piece of clingwrap (enough to cover the mouth of the jar)
Step 1:
*ADULT: help to pour some hot water directly into the cool jar.
*CHILD: help to quickly cover the mouth of the jar with the clingwrap. Make sure there are no gaps. Be careful not to touch the body of the jar.
Step 2:
*OBSERVE: almost immediately, you will notice that the inner surface of the clingwrap gets “cloudy”.
Step 3:
*OBSERVE: again, after the jar has cooled down. (30 min – an hour)
*CHILD: gently tap on the surface of the clingwrap.
*OBSERVE: tiny water droplets formed on the inner surface of the clingwrap.
Step 4:
*LINK:
- water from the hot water acts like the Sun’s heat.
- Evaporation (heat gains) occurs.
- Condensation (heat loss) occurs when it comes into contact with the cooler inner surface area of the clingwrap.
- water droplets (clouds) are formed.
- Clouds fall as rain (Precipitation) when they are unable to contain the water droplets.
- The cycle continues.
Step 5:
*MIND MAP:
- It is useful for students to draw out a mind map to link details so they can remember better.
Love my student's concept mapping. Although it is not perfect, it tells me the effort put in.