Materials Required:
l Fish tank
l Water
l Blue food colouring
l 1 cup vegetable oil
l Stirrer
Procedure:
- Fill a fish tank or other large, clear container about half full with water, and add some food colouring until the water turns to a deep shade of blue. Then pour the oil on top.
- Slowly stir the water. The oil will stay mostly flat near the top. Next, stir the water very rapidly. The oil will roll over and form a fluffy appearance. Do these shapes remind you of anything?
This Is What Happens:
You have just made a model of the formations that clouds make in the sky! When the air is calm, the clouds assume a level shape, like the oil that you first stirred. These kinds of clouds are called stratus. When the air is moving fast, however, the clouds roll over themselves, just as the oil did. Clouds like these are called cumulus.
