Rain, Rain go away..
Hello Friends!
Let's take a long look at this work of art by Kalina Wińska.
It is entitled ATMOSPHERIC GAZE # 6. It is made with graphite, colored pencils, and gesso on Yupo.
Discuss this work with a friend or a parent!
What is going on in this work?
What makes you say that?
What else can you find?
Great job! Now let's hear from the artist herself...
"In my recent works, I explore various ways of observing and visually comprehending the weather through direct (human sight) and indirect means (e.g. satellite imagery.) Ultimately, in the process of making these works, issues such as our ambivalent relationship to climate change, concepts of weather modification, and the human drive to control natural phenomena resurfaced and provided more focused direction to my formal manipulations with materials and tools. The artworks are mostly mixed media drawings on paper or panel that formally explore indexical shapes of clouds in combination with meticulously layered symbolic signs of targets or molecular formulas of greenhouse gases. Furthermore, the variety of color shapes, as well as the symbolic and expressive marks and lines, are inspired by surface weather analysis data codes. I think of them as abstracted snapshots of cloudscapes visibly marked with human activity."
Did your thoughts or opinion change after hearing from the artist?
What do you now think is going on in this work?
This work is an artistic version of a weather map! Have you ever seen a weather map on the news or in the paper?
Let's take a look at this weather map..
How are the two maps similar?
How are they different?
Since Kalina's map is an artistic interpretation, it does not have a key that tells us what all the colors and symbols stand for. Notice the differences in the colors, and how they are similarly layered. Do both images have lines and arrows? Yes! How are they different? What else can you find?
Let's take a look at this weather map..
How are the two maps similar?
How are they different?
Since Kalina's map is an artistic interpretation, it does not have a key that tells us what all the colors and symbols stand for. Notice the differences in the colors, and how they are similarly layered. Do both images have lines and arrows? Yes! How are they different? What else can you find?
Let's get artistic with science!
Weather maps are so important for us to learn how to read! They let us know what to expect, whether it be a warm sunny day, a windy day, or a stormy day. We are going to do a fun activity that teaches weather concepts as well as color theory.
SHAVING CREAM RAIN CLOUDS
The hows and whys:
As the water gets too heavy for the "cloud", it begins to release it into the "atmosphere" (aka the water), therefore creating "rain".
Materials:
1 clear container
Water
Shaving Cream
Food Coloring
As the water gets too heavy for the "cloud", it begins to release it into the "atmosphere" (aka the water), therefore creating "rain".
Materials:
1 clear container
Water
Shaving Cream
Food Coloring
Directions:
Fill your container a little over half way with water. Use your shaving cream (whipped cream will work as well) to create small or large clouds on top of the water. Pick three food coloring dyes, I chose a red, a blue and, a yellow. These are our primary colors and I will be observing how they mix! Add a few drops of each color to the tops of your clouds, observe and record with a paper and pen what happens as they make their way through the clouds and into the atmosphere. If you made a large cloud, you could add some water on top of your cloud to make it even heavier and speed up the process.
These colors are 'raining' down into the atmosphere because the cloud got too heavy. This is called precipitation!
Fill your container a little over half way with water. Use your shaving cream (whipped cream will work as well) to create small or large clouds on top of the water. Pick three food coloring dyes, I chose a red, a blue and, a yellow. These are our primary colors and I will be observing how they mix! Add a few drops of each color to the tops of your clouds, observe and record with a paper and pen what happens as they make their way through the clouds and into the atmosphere. If you made a large cloud, you could add some water on top of your cloud to make it even heavier and speed up the process.
These colors are 'raining' down into the atmosphere because the cloud got too heavy. This is called precipitation!
 Notice how the colors begin to mix! We can now see green, purple and even orange begin to appear! After a while, the color has settled to the bottom of the atmosphere and the water on top has cleared back up! |  |
When the rain in our atmosphere collects into the ground and bodies of water
(like ponds and rivers) it is called collection, or run-off.
Let's shake it up!
Once all of our rain has settled, gently shake or stir your jar. You will notice that all of your colors will mix into one, and be forced back up into the atmosphere!
When the sun comes out after it rains, and the wet grounds dry up, where does all the rain water go? Back up into the atmosphere to form a brand new cloud! This is called evaporation.
You can do this experiment over and over with different variations like different sized clouds, different temperatures of water, and different colors of rain. Make sure to record your findings in a chart with details about the different variations you used!
Let us know how your clouds in a jar turned out in the comments!
When the sun comes out after it rains, and the wet grounds dry up, where does all the rain water go? Back up into the atmosphere to form a brand new cloud! This is called evaporation.
You can do this experiment over and over with different variations like different sized clouds, different temperatures of water, and different colors of rain. Make sure to record your findings in a chart with details about the different variations you used!
Let us know how your clouds in a jar turned out in the comments!
