Weather and Climate Demonstrations

See also: Water Cycle, Sustainability

Weather and climate demonstrations show how atmospheric conditions change over time and differ from long-term patterns. They help distinguish between short-term weather events and the broader concept of climate.

Demonstration	Materials	Difficulty	Safety	Summary
Simulating a Tsunami	★★★	★★☆	★☆☆	A clear Lucite tank is constructed with a hinged flap to simulate undersea disturbances that generate tsunamis. By raising and lowering the flap, waves are created that move toward a model beach, allowing observation of how tsunamis propagate and impact coastal areas.
Globe and Heat Lamp Seasons Model	★★★	★☆☆	★☆☆	A globe, heat lamp, and infrared thermometer are used to demonstrate how the tilt of the Earth’s axis causes the seasons. Students measure and compare temperature changes in different hemispheres to model seasonal variation.
Make a Barometer	★★☆	★☆☆	★☆☆	A simple homemade barometer can be made using a balloon, a jar, and a straw to measure changes in air pressure, allowing students to observe weather patterns and make basic predictions.
See Convection Currents	★☆☆	★☆☆	★★☆	A small container of hot, colored water is placed in a larger container of cold water. The warm water rises and circulates through the cold water, creating visible convection currents that illustrate heat transfer and density differences.
Changing Albedo	★★☆	★☆☆	★☆☆	Students test how different surfaces (soil, snow, and water) heat up under light to explore the role of albedo. By comparing temperature changes, they learn how albedo influences warming and melting in Earth's systems.
Earth's Tile and the Seasons	★☆☆	★☆☆	★☆☆	The Earth’s tilt and orbit around the Sun is modelled with a globe and lamp to investigate why seasons occur. By observing changes in day length, sun angle, and heating effects at different latitudes, students explore how axial tilt causes the seasons.
Coriolis Effect Balloon	★☆☆	★☆☆	★☆☆	This activity models the Coriolis effect using a rotating balloon to represent Earth. Students attempt to draw straight lines from the poles toward the equator while the balloon spins, showing how Earth’s rotation makes paths appear to curve. The demonstration helps explain the deflection of winds, ocean currents, and large weather systems.
Water Cycle in a Bag	★☆☆	★☆☆	★☆☆	This activity models the water cycle using a sealed plastic bag, water, and sunlight. Evaporation, condensation, and precipitation can be observed as water droplets form and move inside the bag.
Tornado in a Bottle	★★☆	★☆☆	★☆☆	This classic experiment demonstrates how tornadoes form by swirling water between two connected bottles. Adding food coloring, glitter, or small objects makes the tornado more visible and models debris caught in real tornado winds.
Greenhouse Analogy with Chocolate	★☆☆	★☆☆	★☆☆	This classroom activity models the greenhouse effect using chocolate squares instead of thermometers. By comparing how quickly chocolate melts inside and outside a transparent container under a light source or the Sun, students observe how greenhouse gases trap heat in Earth’s atmosphere.
Cloud in a Bottle	★★☆	★★☆	★★☆	This demonstration shows how changes in pressure and temperature can create visible clouds. When air inside a sealed bottle containing rubbing alcohol is compressed and then suddenly released, the vapor condenses into tiny suspended droplets, forming a cloud.
Fire Tornado	★★★	★★☆	★★★	This dramatic demonstration shows how a spinning column of fire can be created using a rotating screen cylinder and a flame source. It models the dangerous fire tornadoes that occur in extreme wildfires when hot air updrafts combine with swirling winds.
Black vs White Can Heating	★★☆	★☆☆	★☆☆	This experiment demonstrates how color affects heat absorption by comparing the water temperature in a black-painted can and a white-painted can after exposure to sunlight. The black can absorbs more energy, heating the water inside faster than the white can.
Land vs Water Heating	★★☆	★☆☆	★☆☆	This experiment models how land and water surfaces heat and cool at different rates. By comparing temperature changes in soil (or sand) and water exposed to a heat lamp, students can better understand how the uneven heating of Earth’s surfaces affects weather and climate.
Melting Ice and Rising Sea Levels	★☆☆	★☆☆	★☆☆	This experiment shows the difference between melting sea ice and melting land ice. Sea ice melts without raising water levels, while land ice melting adds extra water and raises sea levels.
Lake Stratification (Overturn) in a Jar	★☆☆	★★☆	★☆☆	Two jars of water at different temperatures are stacked mouth to mouth. With warm water on top the layers remain separated, but flipping the pair places cold water above warm and triggers rapid mixing that models seasonal lake overturn.

Materials
★☆☆ Easy to get from supermarket or hardware store
★★☆ Available in most school laboratories or specialist stores
★★★ Requires materials not commonly found in school laboratories

Difficulty
★☆☆ Can be easily done by most teenagers
★★☆ Available in most school laboratories or specialist stores
★★★ Requires a more experienced teacher

Safety
★☆☆ Minimal safety procedures required
★★☆ Some safety precautions required to perform safely
★★★ Only to be attempted with adequate safety procedures and trained staff