hmm an alligator
a sock that one looks like a rat
have you ever looked up in the sky and
seen shapes in the clouds clouds can be
big and fluffy like a castle made of
cotton candy or they can be thin and
wispy like little white lines drawn in
the sky but have you ever wondered what
the clouds are we know there aren't real
alligators or socks up there but what
makes a cloud a cloud well they might
not look like it but clouds are just big
clumps of water droplets but how did
those water droplets get up there in the
first place water can exist in three
different forms a solid a liquid or a
gas ice is just a solid form of water
and water in your drinking glass is a
liquid and you can't see water when it's
a gas which is called water vapor but
have you ever heated a pot of water and
notice that as it boils the water level
goes down the water that's not there
anymore has evaporated or turned into
gas it's become water vapor and floated
up into the air and that's basically how
clouds are made when the sun shines down
on the water and oceans lakes and rivers
it acts in pretty much the same way as
that pot on the stove it warms the water
enough to turn a little bit of that
liquid water into water vapor then the
water vapor rises into the sky and as it
goes higher the air gets colder finally
it cools down enough that it turns back
into a liquid again but this time it
sticks to tiny bits of things floating
around up there like dust dirt and smoke
as more water vapor floats up and bumps
into those sticky wet specks the
droplets get bigger and bigger until
they're big enough to see
now they have formed clouds even though
all clouds are made of the same stuff
they can look pretty different there are
actually different kinds of clouds that
scientists look for based on how they
look and the type of weather that they
produce so let's play cloud spotter
again but this time with science first
we'll check out everyone's favorite the
cumulus cloud we love these guys because
they're the big puffy fluffy clouds that
can make us think of alligators or socks
or robotic rats they're usually bright
white and they're thick and dense enough
that when one passes in front of the sun
it can cast a shadow these clouds
usually mean nice weather but beware
when you start to see a cumulus cloud
grow tall and turn dark gray it can
produce a big storm with lots of thunder
lightning and pouring rain cirrus clouds
are totally different they're the super
thin wispy clouds high in the sky if a
sears cloud passes in front of the sun
you'll hardly notice they're almost
see-through when you see these kinds of
clouds in the sky you're probably in for
a nice sunny day now take a look at
these stratus clouds they form something
that looks kind of like a blanket across
a big chunk of the sky they might look
flat and smooth or they may have a
pattern that looks bumpy or wavy stratus
clouds tend to block out a lot of the
sun's light so these clouds usually
bring a gray drizzly day but cumulus
cirrus and stratus clouds are just the
beginning there are lots of different
versions of these three main types
depending on how high in the sky the
clouds form and the shapes that they
make you can be a cloud spotter too you
have a chance to check out cool clouds
every time you step outside so keep
looking up and pretty soon you'll be a
pro at telling your cirrus from your
stratus as for squeaks and me we're
going to get back to these cumulus
clouds i think that one looks like the
giant squid thanks for joining us on
scishow kids if you have a question or
just something you'd like to learn more
about you can let us know by leaving a
comment below or emailing us at
kidscyshow.com
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