Water Cycle and Cloud Formation

Procedure
1) Pour about ¾ cup of warm water into a 12 or 16 oz glass.
2) Cover the top of the glass tightly with plastic wrap. Overlap the edges a little.
3) Put 1 ice cube in a plastic bag and seal it. Place the bag on top of the plastic wrap so it sags a little in the center, but doesn’t touch the surface of the water.
4) Observe the surface of the plastic wrap directly under the ice cube every 5 minutes. Fill in the following table and answer the questions at the end.

The water in the beaker represents the ocean and the air represents the atmosphere. What does the ice represent?

Describe what is happening on the underside of the plastic wrap. Use the terms water vapor and liquid droplets.
what is the process of turning from a gas to a liquid called?Describe what your plastic wrap looks like:

Describe the relative size of the water droplets compared to how they started.

How does each droplet get bigger
What is the process of water droplets getting bigger called?

Describe what is happening on the underside of the plastic wrap.

What happens when water droplets get too heavy to stay on the plastic wrap?
Describe in your own words how clouds form as part of the water cycle. Use the words evaporation, condensation, coalesce, and precipitation in your answer.

2) Predict what would happen if you repeated this activity with hotter water.

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