The science behind weather events wowed second-grade students in Tiffany Cioffi’s class at Hiawatha Elementary School as the students participated in an engaging STEAM experiment creating a rain cloud simulation in a jar.

As part of a science unit focusing on weather, students have been actively observing weather patterns, identifying different types of precipitation and learning how the water cycle works. The experiment began with a mason jar partially filled with water, representing air. Then shaving cream was added on top of the water to represent clouds. In a separate container, water and food coloring were mixed together to represent rain.

Simulating the process in which clouds become oversaturated and begin to rain, the student scientists used an eyedropper to carefully drop water onto the cloud until it reached the point of saturation and leaked through the shaving cream cloud into the water below, simulating rainfall. 

Acting as true scientists, the students used data collected during their experiment to draw conclusions about why a cloud starts to rain.