Weather experiments for parents and children

Many of us are stuck at home and schools are closed leaving many parents trying to home school. I love to do frequent school visits to talk about the weather and have many weather-related experiments I like to share with the kids. Those visits are obviously on hold, so I am sharing some of the weather experiments for parents and kids to enjoy and to help educate. I have a few experiments in a series of blog entries to share now and will post additional experiments next week, including some hands-on experiments.

Most of the following experiments are air pressure related. The first experiment can easily be done at home, but will require adult supervision. Here is a list of what you will need:

1. Saucer or small shallow plate

2. Candle

3. Glass jar

4. Lighter

5. Water (can be colored to enhance the effect)

Cover the bottom of the saucer with water, then place candle in middle of the saucer. You can use clay to keep the candle from floating, if needed. Next, light the candle and finally place glass or jar over the candle and watch what happens. Below is a video of the experiment:

Here is an explanation of how it works. As the candle burns under the glass or jar the air heats up and expands. Some of the expanding air escapes under the jar where you may see bubbles. As the flame fades and goes out, the air in the container cools and cooler air takes up less space. This lowers the pressure in the container. Higher pressure in the room pushes down on the water in the dish and pushes the water into the container until the pressure is equal inside and outside of the container.

Check out parts the three other entries for more fun and educational weather experiments. I will post a few more next week that will be more hands on for kids and parents to try at home.