This Webquest is designed for 4th grade students to learn about clouds by having them visit several websites and answer questions. The questions cover topics such as what clouds are made of, why they are white, the different types of clouds and their characteristics, how clouds form through condensation and freezing, and clouds' role in climate. Students will learn there are three levels of clouds named by their Latin prefixes, clouds need particles to form around, and clouds help regulate Earth's temperature.
1. E. Ashleigh Fagergren
Topic: Clouds
Grade Level: Fourth
Objective: This Webquest is designed for students to learn more about clouds ( where
they come from, how they form, the different types, why they are white, different
altitudes clouds can be found, etc…).
You are about to embark on a journey to learn all you can about clouds. You will visit
the following websites to find the answers to the questions. Please record in your
journal notebook the answers to the following 10 questions. You can work in groups of
two or by yourself. Enjoy!
1) http://www.weatherwizkids.com/weather-clouds.htm
What are clouds?
___________________________________
Why are clouds white?
___________________________________
2) http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/cld/cldtyp/home.rxml
How many different levels of clouds are there?
_____________________________________
2. Name the different high-level clouds
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
3) http://eo.ucar.edu/webweather/cloud2.html
What do you think is the main process behind cloud formation?
_________________________________________
When water changes phase from a liquid (water) to a solid (ice) we call this:
_________________________________________
4) http://www.wxdude.com/page9.html
What are the four basic cloud types?
___________________________________________
True of False, clouds need clean air to form?
___________________________________________
5) http://vortex.plymouth.edu/clouds.html/
What do cirrus clouds look like?
__________________________________________
What do cumulus clouds look like?
__________________________________________
6) http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/earth/clouds/
What altitude would you find Cirrus clouds?
___________________
3. What altitude would you find Stratus clouds?
___________________
7) http://www.carlwozniak.com/clouds/types.html
Why are the names of clouds given a prefix?
_____________________________
When a cloud is producing precipitation, what prefix is it given?
_______________________________
8)
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/topnav/materials/listbytype/Learning_About
_Clouds.html
Click on the link on the website that says, “View Quicktime” and watch the three minute
video on clouds. What did Dr. Chambers put in the metal tin when making a cloud?
___________________________
Dr. Chambers listed four particles that clouds form around- name two.
__________________________
__________________________
9) http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/cloud-scramble/
Fill in the blanks: Water on land or in the ocean _____________, turning from a liquid to
a gas called water _________________.
Besides moving _____________ around from one place to another, clouds play a very
important part in maintaining Earth's ____________________.
5. Answers:
1) A) A cloud is a large collection of very tiny droplets of water or ice crystals.
B) They reflect the light of the sun.
2) A) Three
B) Cirrus, Cirrostratus
3) A) Condensation
B) Freezing
4) A) Cumulus, stratus, cirrus, cumulonimbus
B) False
5) A) High altitude, wispy clouds
B) Puffy with distinct edges
6) A) Above 18,000 feet
B) Below 6,500 feet
7) A) Indicates what level in the atmosphere it is in.
B) Nimbo (or Nimbus at the end of the word)
8) A)Ice Cubes
B) Sea Salt, man-made pollution, dust, volcanic aerosols
9) A) evaporates, vapor
B) water, temperature
10) A) True
B) True