Shapes in the Sky, and Clouds in a Jar

I'm sure you've seen the old cloud-in-a-jar experiment before.

In case you haven't, you just place some ice cubes in a metal pan.

Place the pan on top of a jar, filled with an inch of warm water.

Take the jar, and pan to a dark room, and shine a flashlight through it, to see the cloud forming, and swirling.

It's a lot more spectacular than I thought it would be. I've seen the experiment on a number of blogs, but was moved to action, when we found it at the back of Josepha Sherman's Shapes in the Sky, A Book About Clouds.

Sherman's book starts out as a dreamy sort of story, watching shapes drift by in the sky. But, it quickly changes to a factual science book for younger children, detailing cumulus, cumulonimbus (can you even read that, without hearing the voice of the Russel from Up!?), stratus, and cirrus clouds, and their effects on the world.

As well as providing the cloud experiment at the back of the book, there is also a glossary of terms, some fun "fast facts", and a number of additional Internet, and library resources about clouds.

It's great to be a homeschooler.

Linked with Feed Me Books Friday, at The Adventure of Motherhood.

Feed Me Books Friday - Books You Can Sing

The theme for this week's Feed Me Books Friday at The Adventure of Motherhood, is "Books You Can Sing". And, I just had to jump in with our favorite - Somewhere in the Ocean by Jennifer Ward (sung to the tune of "Down in the Meadow").

Ward actually has a whole series of these books, and they are wonderful. They're counting books from 1 to 10, contain simple science, have wonderfully detailed, brightly colored illustrations, with a number hidden on each page - and I get to sing them to the children! Never mind that I can't sing - the children don't know that yet, and so are always an appreciative audience.

Don't know the tune for "Down in the Meadow"? Don't worry, a musical score is included at the back of the book. And, if you can't read music, these are still great books to read to your children.

It's great to be a homeschooler.