Hobbies And Interests
Fog Formation
This project will demonstrate how water droplets in the air condense to form fog. Fill 1/4 of an empty and cleaned soda bottle with cold water. Fill 1/4 of another empty and cleaned soda bottle with hot water. Wedge an ice cube -- so that it rests snugly but does not fall -- in the neck of each soda bottle and observe what happens with the water. Fog will form in the bottle with the hot water, proving that the warm, wet air mixed with cooler air causes condensation equivalent to changing weather. The air in the bottle with the cold water will not change.
Volcanoes
This project will help teach how composite volcanoes form. To make a model of a volcano, place four or five ice cubes in a wide-mouth jar. Fill the jar with water. Fill a baby food jar with warm water and stir in five drops of food coloring. Cover the baby food jar with a ball of clay. Punch two holes into the clay and insert a precut 4-inch drinking straw so it reaches just over the clay. Place the baby food jar into a clean, empty quart-sized glass jar. Remove the ice cubes from the first jar and fill the jar containing the baby food jar with the cold water. Within two or three minutes, the warm water in the baby food jar will rise above the cool water. This experiment proves that the density of warm water is less than the density of colder water, giving the warm water more energy and allowing it to move faster. Similarly, the temperature of magma affects the way it moves up a volcano vent.
Greenhouse Effect
Students can work in groups to conduct an experiment to understand the effects of a greenhouse and relate it to what occurs in the Earth's atmosphere. Each group works with two small thermometers, a glass jar and a watch. Place the thermometers in direct sunlight for three minutes and then record the temperature on each. Place the jars over the thermometers. Have the students record the temperature on each thermometer every 10 minutes. The results will show that the air trapped in the jar cannot cool down with the rest of the air in the room. Similar to the jar trapping the warm air, the sunlight that warms the Earth's surface as it enters the atmosphere gets trapped by gases, a process known as the greenhouse effect.
Tornado Demonstration
Gather two clean 2-liter soda bottles, duct tape, silicone caulking and water to demonstrate how the vortex of a tornado works. Drill holes through the center of each soda cap bottle and then press and seal the caps together using the silicone caulking; do not cover the holes with caulking. Allow the caulking to dry completely. Fill 1/2 of one soda bottle with water and screw on one side of the caps. Screw the second bottle onto the second cap and then seal the connections with duct tape. Stand the bottles on a table so the water is on the top. Move the top bottle in a circular motion and watch as the water spins and funnels down. The spinning motion of the water in the bottle mimics the motion of the air spinning in the center of a tornado. Rain swept into the spinning air surrounds the vortex of the tornado, and adds to the strength and destruction potential.