Where does rain come from?
Quick answer from Eartha
Rain comes from clouds, and clouds come from water that has travelled up into the sky. The sun warms puddles, rivers and oceans, turning water into invisible vapour that floats upward. Up high it cools down, bunches into droplets, and forms clouds. When the droplets get too heavy, they fall as rain.
The longer story
It all starts with the sun. Sunshine warms up oceans, lakes and puddles, and some of that water turns into invisible vapour that drifts up into the sky.
As the vapour rises, it cools down. Cool vapour loves to stick to tiny bits of dust floating in the air, forming teeny tiny droplets of water.
Millions and millions of these droplets clump together to make the clouds we see. Each droplet is so small that it can float, but as more droplets join in, the cloud gets heavier.
Eventually the droplets bump into each other and grow too big and heavy to float anymore. Gravity pulls them down, and that's the rain landing on your umbrella. This whole journey is called the water cycle, and it never stops, even while you sleep.
Try this at home: make a mini water cycle
- Pour warm water into a bowl and place it in a sunny spot.
- Cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap and pop a small stone on top so it dips in the middle.
- Check back later for droplets forming underneath, just like a tiny cloud.
Words to know
- water vapour
- Water that has turned into an invisible gas floating in the air.
- water cycle
- The endless journey water takes from the ground to the sky and back again.
- condense
- When vapour cools and turns back into tiny water droplets.
For grown-ups: what is my child learning here?
Age band: Ages 5-8
Curriculum link: Australian Curriculum v9 Science, Year 1 to Year 3, Earth and Space Sciences strand: observable changes in weather and the water cycle.
The concept: The child is learning that water moves in a continuous cycle between the ground, air and clouds.
More classroom ideas are on our teachers page, and safety notes for families are on for parents.
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