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• 4th Grade Home
• States of Water
• Water, Water, Everywhere
• Here Comes the Sun!
• Hit the Shower!
• The Heat Is On
• The Condensed Version
• It's Raining, it's Pouring!
• Moving On
• The Water Cycle Project
• The Water Supply
• Science Language

The Water Cycle - The Condensed Version

Dewey’s BIG ADVENTURE CONTINUES! Remember Dewey? He left his home in the warm, tropical ocean and set out on his "Big Adventure." Dewey was warmed by the sun, changing him from liquid water to a gas called "water vapor." As water vapor, Dewey became very light. As he moved into the atmosphere, he began to change once again.

"Brrr," he thought to himself, "I'm getting cold up here." As Dewey thought about his new situation. He suddenly ran into Dusty. Guess what Dusty is? (Hint: The name is a BIG clue). Dusty is a tiny piece of dust floating in the atmosphere. As Dewey collided with Dusty, Dewey suddenly felt like himself again. He was no longer water vapor.

Dewey had condensed. He was once more liquid water.

Do you know what happened to Dewey? Take your best guess and then highlight the box at the right for the answer.

 

Can you think of other examples of condensation? When you reached for a cool glass of lemonade, you noticed that the outside of the glass felt moist when you picked it up. You watched someone pour the lemonade and you know they did not spill any. So what caused the glass to be moist on the outside? Water vapor from the air changed to a liquid when it came in contact with the icy cold glass.

In order for condensation to take place, water vapor must come in contact with a surface that is colder than the surrounding area. The glass of lemonade provided the cold surface in the above story. What happened in Dewey’s adventure to change him back to liquid water? The upper atmosphere if full of fine dust particles. Dust and water combine to form rain drops. As the temperature drops, the newly formed raindrops become heavier and fall from the sky.

 

Condensation on Cups Activity

Materials:

• Two clear plastic cups
• Ice cubes
• Water

Procedure:

1. Fill one cup half full with room temperature water. Fill the second cup half full with ice cubes and water.
2. Let the cups sit side by side for about ten minutes. What do you notice on the outside of the cups? The water on the outside of the icy cup came from the water vapor in the air. If the air in your room is too dry, you may not get any water condensation. If this happens, try fogging up the cup with your breath. You know, just like you do on a window when it's cold outside. Do the same to both cups.
3. Is there a difference between the results of the room temperature cup and the ice water cup? Explain why the results were different.

 

Water Bottle Experiment

Materials:

• One clear plastic cup with a lid or a clean empty water or soda bottle with a
  screw-top cap.
• Measuring cup
• Water

Procedure:

1. Carefully pour about 50 ml. of water into the container and close the lid.
2. Use a marker to show the water level on the bottle.
3. Set the closed container in a sunny window sill for a day and leave it overnight.
4. What do you observe? What made the water vapor condense on the inside of the container. Explain your answer.