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Children create their own tornadoes in a bottle after a watching a demonstration at the Lake Metroparks Weather Day on Jan. 15. (Bryson Durst — The News-Herald)
Kids learned about solar balloons and static electricity, took home bottle tornadoes and got sprayed in a lake effect snow demonstration during Lake Metroparks’ Jan. 15 Weather Day.
Weather Day was hosted at Jordan Creek Park’s Environmental Learning Center in Concord Township. Outdoor Education Manager Heather Freeman said that the goal was “getting families interested in weather.”
One way staff aimed to do that was with the lake effect snow demonstration.
At the start of every hour, visitors and staff were scheduled to gather at a large floor map of Lake Erie and surrounding areas. Outdoor Education Specialist Erin Litwiler explained how lake effect systems start when cold air blows across the warm lake water.
After the lesson, the kids were sprayed with a bubbly substance representing snow.
The park was also set to teach about solar balloons half past each hour. Freeman explained that the black balloons absorb radiation from the sun. The air inside heats and expands, causing the balloon to float when placed in colder air outside.
She added that people can make solar balloons at home with trash bags.
Between those lessons, visitors participated in lab activities. Kids could create their own bottle tornadoes by mixing water, dish soap and glitter in a bottle and then sealing, flipping and shaking it. In a neighboring room, they learned about static electricity and watched how a charged straw would move when they placed their fingers nearby.
Freeman added that outdoor activities were also available along the park’s StoryWalk for visitors who wanted to go outside. She said that the activities discussed “how to dress for the weather and how to be prepared for the elements here in Northeast Ohio.”
Visitor Joe Willaman said that his kids seemed to like a scavenger tracker at the park, as well as the lake effect snow and tornado activities.
“They’ve done a really good job, just with all the activities and things,” he said of the staff.
“I’m hoping the families can have fun exploring weather, looking at things in a different way, because we all take weather for granted sometimes,” Freeman said.
Weather Day was one of two events that Lake Metroparks scheduled for kids who were off for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. At Penitentiary Glen Reservation in Kirtland, visitors to Wild Similarities learned about animals who have similar features but are not closely related.
The park district also has events scheduled when kids are off for Presidents Day on Feb. 19. The Environmental Learning Center will host the Craftacular Nature Day open house, Penitentiary Glen will host the Lost World event about animals that used to live in Ohio at 8668 Kirtland-Chardon Road, and the Farmpark will host Farmer Monday at 8800 Euclid-Chardon Road, Kirtland.
Freeman said that the Environmental Learning Center changes the themes each year for its Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Presidents Day open houses.
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