Maggie’s Activity Pack Name __________________________ Date ___________________________ Clouds: What’s in a Name? Have you ever done nephelococcygia? Now that’s a BIG word for a simple, lazy day activity! It means finding shapes in clouds. So, if you’ve ever looked up at the sky and imagined seeing a dragon, dog, or whale, you now have a very fancy name for your creativity! The shapes of clouds are very important. They help weather scientists, called meteorologists, to identify clouds. Is it a wispy cloud or a puffy cloud? The cloud may be layered. The height of clouds is also important. Some clouds hover near the ground. Other clouds can be eight miles high. Take a look at this chart. It will help you to understand how clouds are named. Luke Howard, a British chemist, gave clouds these names. What is the What does the cloud look What is the cloud height? cloud name? like? Stratus Looks gray and flat; has Low clouds -Close to ground; if layers or sheets; might stratus clouds touch the ground cover the entire sky we call them fog Cumulus White and puffy; fluffy Mid-level clouds Cirrus Wispy; “fingers’ of clouds High clouds Cloud names may be put together to better describe certain clouds, too. For example, a stratocumulus cloud will be flat on the bottom and puffy on the top. A cirro stratus cloud is thin and wispy but has layers. These clouds are found above thunder clouds. Clouds also have prefixes and suffixes. These help us to better understand clouds. Nimbo, means rain. Clouds with nimbo or nimbus in their names mean that the cloud may bring rain or snow. The cloud name, nimbo cumulus is given to a cloud that is puffy but may bring rain. Cumulo nimbus clouds are big, puffy rain clouds. If you see cirro in front of a cloud name, you know it is a high cloud with ice crystals. The prefix, alto, means it is a mid-level cloud. We don’t have a special prefix for low-level clouds. Try this: What are altocumulus clouds? _________________________________ What is a cirrocumulus cloud? _________________________________ Look on the bottom of the next page over to find out if you are correct! © Maggie's Earth Adventures, LLC 2007. Teachers may reproduce for classroom use. Naming Clouds cirrocumulus alto stratus Write the name of each cloud on it. Use the cloud names in the circle. altocumulus cumulus stratocumulus nimbo cumulus stratus fog cirrus cirro stratus cumulo nimbus First page answer - Altocumulus clouds are mid-level puffy clouds and cirrocumulus clouds are high puffy clouds with rain or snow. © Maggie's Earth Adventures, LLC 2007. Teachers may reproduce for classroom use. Dear Colleague, Weather is certainly a “hot topic” given the recent hurricanes. In addition, teachers in the United States are preparing for a science component in “No Child Left Behind.” That’s why we bring you, “Clouds: What’s in a Name?” As I look at many of the state tests designed to assess science as part of the Federal mandate, I realize that many of these tests give students science text to read and then pose questions. Many of these include charts and graphs. Your students will gain valuable practice for these state assessments by completing this activity. But, we at Maggie’s Earth Adventures, believe it is important for us to “go beyond” these mandated tests. We know it is essential to develop a child’s natural curiosity. We hope you will take your class outside and ask them to USE their knowledge to identify real clouds in the sky. Make science journals for them to sketch their observations. You may also want to encourage imagination and ask children what cloud pictures are visible. Developing excitement and curiosity for knowledge and encouraging children to see connections make for life-long learners. We hope your students will go beyond the scope of this activity and research how clouds are formed. We have a wonderful activity on the Water Cycle available in our Archive area. Let us know what YOU do to extend CLOUDS! Happy teaching, Kathy Answer Key: Goals: Students will read how and why clouds are named. Both text and a chart are used to convey this knowledge. Students will use this information to identify clouds on a diagram. This activity is available on two levels, intermediate and primary. The activity correlates with Content Standard D, Earth and Space Science, of the National Science Standards. © Maggie's Earth Adventures, LLC 2007. Teachers may reproduce for classroom use. .