If you’re teaching your kids about the different types of clouds, have them make a model to show cloud structure and the different levels of the atmosphere where clouds form. Here’s a good website that covers the basics of cloud classification. There’s a good diagram of different types of clouds and the atmospheric levels in which they form. For younger children you might want to let them use the image as a guide for their model. Older children will find it more challenging to only research information about the structure and level of different types of clouds and then develop their own visual model.
Whichever option you choose, provide blue foam board, plenty of cotton balls, school glue, and markers. Challenge your child to plan their model before beginning. Discuss the need to arrange the cotton so that it represents the structure of different types of clouds. And, the need to plan ahead to divide the poster into sections to represent the different levels at which clouds form. A black marker can be used to darken the cotton of the “rain clouds.”
Extend the cloud lesson by taking the finished model outside on different days to identify clouds in the sky. The model will help children understand that they are actually looking up through three different levels of clouds.
