Science Concept: Fog
Grade Level: 4th and up
Science Content Standards: Understand basic features of the Earth.
Objectives: SWBAT (Students will be able to) describe how fog is produced.
Motivation: Have you ever gone to the beach in the early morning and noticed fog? Or have you seen a movie where it shows you a scene of a foggy beach? Why do you think this occurs? What conditions are necessary for this to occur?
Procedure:
1. Create a KWL Chart with students. Note that a warm day is preferable or you can do this on top of your heating vent if you are doing this on a day when it is cold outside. Do this demo right before filling in the KWL chart: Have a real cold glass of water with ice cubes in it. Let it sit. Ask students what will happen to the outside or the glass. (You could also do this with a cold can of soda.)
2. They will notice that the glass begins to “sweat”. This is similar to the conditions that occur at the beach. The moisture on the outside of the glass is due to the water in the air (water vapor) cooling and condensing.
3. This is called dew.
4. If there is a large amount of water in the air near the ground that has gone through condensation this is called fog.
Closure: Ask students, "Do you think that all coastal areas create the same amount of fog? Why or why not? Explain.
Assessment: HW: Have them reach 2 different coastal beaches on two different continents and two different latitudes.