DE Science Elementary 5-Minute Prep For Weather and Climate Weather > Water in the Atmosphere

Water in the Atmosphere – The Big Ideas Water is present in the air, sometimes taking visible forms of moisture. Evaporation is the process by which water goes from a liquid state into the air. Clouds and fog are made of tiny droplets and are forms of visible moisture in the air. Humidity is an invisible form of moisture in the air. Forms of precipitation occur under different weather conditions. Cloud formation depends on temperature, pressure, and humidity. Clouds are classified by height and shape and cloud types are associated with the specific kinds of weather.

Water in the Atmosphere- Prior Knowledge Learning about water in the atmosphere is an advanced concept, and students will probably not have much background knowledge. It is likely that students know some facts about clouds as they learned about weather in their early elementary years. It will help students if they try the Fundamental to gain some background knowledge about what the air is made of and about water in the air.

Water in the Atmosphere – Common Misconceptions Rain drops are shaped like teardrops. –Reality: Small raindrops are spherical, large raindrops are shaped like hamburger buns. Even larger raindrops become distorted and break into smaller drops. Rain comes from evaporating clouds. –Reality: Rain begins to fall when water drops in a cloud are too heavy to remain airborne. Clouds are made of water vapor. –Reality: A visible cloud is primarily tiny water droplets and/or tiny ice crystals.

Water in the Atmosphere – Using DE Science Content When you close this presentation, you can review the following recommended resources for Water in the Atmosphere. Exploration: Water in the Atmosphere Video: Clouds E Book: Lets Dance Reading Passage: 3…2…1…Blast Off! Use the PowerPoint version of this presentation for hyperlinks to these resources or you can get to them through the browser or search feature.

Water in the Atmosphere- Instructional Ideas Use the Exploration with the whole class so students can discover more about water in the atmosphere. Students will discover visible and invisible moisture, learn about precipitation, and cloud types. Before you show the video to students, tell them that the adults in the video make many mistakes and have many misunderstandings about water in the atmosphere. Ask them to locate three examples of this. In addition, ask students to recall the three important ideas that are summarized at the end of the clip. As students read 3…2…1…Blast Off! they can use comparison circles to show the similarities and differences between the precipitation they read about.

State standards: If you wish to review your state standards regarding water in the atmosphere, click here to get to the curriculum standards search feature of DES. You can click on any standard to see what resources are available to teach it. Additional Information: For additional content, check the Extend section within the concept.