Spot six kinds of cloud
You will look for six different cloud forms and sketch what you notice. Clouds change while you watch, and the same cloud can fit more than one simple description.
- Nature
- Starter
- About 15 minutes
Grown-up needed: yes for selecting the location, materials and supervising each observation
What you need
- A comfortable outdoor spot selected by a grown-up
- Paper and pencil
- A grown-up nearby
The rule
Never look straight at the Sun.
How to do it
- Ask a grown-up to choose a comfortable shaded viewing position.
- Write fluffy, flat, wispy, tall, grey and tiny on paper.
- Look only at sky areas away from the Sun.
- Sketch a cloud beside the description that best fits it.
- Mark another fitting description if the same cloud overlaps categories.
- Compare the sketches without expecting every form to appear today.
Why it works
Clouds contain small water droplets, ice particles or both. Air movements and weather conditions affect their shape and height. Droplets can fall slowly while rising air helps keep a cloud present, rather than every droplet simply floating forever. Your six words are everyday appearance descriptions, not six separate official cloud types. A grey cloud can also be tall or flat. Looking at the overlap helps explain why one short label rarely captures the whole observation.
Make it harder
- Sketch the same cloud again after five minutes.
- Find a cloud fitting two descriptions.
- Explain a shape change without assuming the whole cloud moved as one object.
Ask Taz
- Why can a cloud be both grey and flat?
- Why do clouds keep changing shape?
- Why are these descriptions different from official cloud names?
For grown-ups
Stay nearby and select a comfortable spot without glare, traffic or prolonged heat exposure. Nobody should look directly at the Sun. Treat absent forms as an observation, not a failed hunt. Ask at dinner: “Which cloud needed more than one describing word, and what changed while you watched?”
Taz is an AI and can be wrong, so stay close by. Read how safety works on Taz.
Show us yours
Film your hands and what you made, not your face or name. Ask a grown-up before posting anywhere else.
Questions parents ask
What if we do not see the expected result?
Record what actually happened, including missing sightings or changes in conditions. An observation does not need to match a hoped-for example. The listed time is an estimate and some activities need repeated visits.
Should we collect something to take home?
Follow the rule for this activity and leave living things undisturbed. A sketch and a few words are usually enough to keep the observation without removing anything from its place.
Must we show the record online?
No. Keep the record at home if you prefer. Any online sharing needs grown-up permission and the privacy line above.
More to try
See all Taz Challenges, or look through the science labs. One place for every why. Ask for early access at aitaz.com
Try it in 3D: Water cycle.