🧪 Science with Sarah: Shaving cream clouds ☁️

It’s a representation of the water cycle in a jar!

👉 Watch the video of Sarah’s school science experiment here!

Hello parents, teachers and students! It’s a new school year which means new, fun Science with Sarah experiments! Today’s experiment will allow your kiddos to see the water cycle right in a jar!

Be sure to check out GMSA@9 on Wednesdays when Meteorologist Sarah Spivey does the demonstrations and explains the science behind it.

Science with Sarah in partnership with the San Antonio Zoo (Copyright KSAT 2023 - All rights reserved)

HERE’S WHAT YOU’LL NEED

What you need for the shaving cream cloud experiment (Copyright KSAT 2023 - All rights reserved)
  • A large mason jar
  • Water
  • Shaving cream
  • Blue food dye
  • A pipette (if your food dye doesn’t have a dropper)

DO THE EXPERIMENT

  • Fill the mason jar about 3/4 full with water
  • Top the jar with a heap of shaving cream
  • Using a pipette, drip blue food dye on top of the shaving cream. Watch as the drops go through the cloud and into the water

HOW IT WORKS

  • This is a simplified version of the water cycle, perfect for younger students
  • The water represents the atmosphere, the shaving cream represents clouds, and the blue food dye represents rain
  • Your students should be able to understand that clouds (shaving cream) is lighter than the air (water), and rain (food dye) is denser than the atmosphere, so it falls to the ground.

SCIENCE WITH SARAH

If you’d like Sarah and David to come to your school and conduct a science experiment live on KSAT, fill out this form. “Winners” are selected at random.


About the Authors

Sarah Spivey is a San Antonio native who grew up watching KSAT. She has been a proud member of the KSAT Weather Authority Team since 2017. Sarah is a Clark High School and Texas A&M University graduate. She previously worked at KTEN News. When Sarah is not busy forecasting, she enjoys hanging out with her husband and cat, and playing music.

Ben Spicer is a digital journalist who works the early morning shift for KSAT.

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