Cincinnati Museum Center Visits Pre-Kindergarten

In early April, a CMC staff member came to Erica Lyons’ and Abbey Johnson’s classes to provide hands-on lessons around the water cycle and weather for students. 

First, students learned clouds grow by absorbing water. They each dropped a cotton ball into a tub of water and watched as it expanded. When the students picked up their cotton balls, the staff member instructed them to squeeze it, which simulated rainfall. 

After the clouds demonstrations, the staff member explained how lightning occurs. When two or more clouds (and the ice molecules inside them) rub against each other, they build up a static electrical charge which can build until it releases as lightning.