How Clouds Form And Make Rain
Cloud formation and rain are part of the water cycle — the continuous journey water takes from the ground up into the sky and back down again. It begins when heat from the sun warms water in puddles, drains, rivers and the sea, turning it into an invisible gas called water vapour. This process is called evaporation.
As the vapour rises, the surrounding air grows colder. High up, the cold makes the vapour condense back into tiny water droplets that gather around specks of dust. Millions of these droplets clustered together form a cloud. When the droplets keep bumping and joining, they grow into bigger, heavier drops. Once a drop becomes too heavy for the air to hold, gravity pulls it down as rain.
The key ideas a learner grasps are the four stages — evaporation, rising and cooling, condensation into clouds, and rain — and the role of heat, temperature and gravity. In rainy Singapore, it explains the afternoon storms children see almost every day.
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Where does rain come from?Weather science How Clouds Form & Make Rain ☁️🌧️ 🌤️ In Singapore it rains a lot! But have you ever wondered how all that water gets up into the sky — and then falls back down on your umbrella? Let's follow one tiny drop of water on its big adventure. Tap Next to begin!
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The sun lifts the waterStep 1: The sun warms the water ☀️ The hot sun heats puddles, drains, rivers and the sea. The warm water slowly turns into an invisible gas called water vapour and floats up. This is called evaporation. Tap the sun to send its warm rays down and watch the water rise! 💧 💧 💧 💧 Give the sun a tap! 👆
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Up high it gets coldStep 2: Higher up, it gets cold 🥶 The water vapour rises higher and higher. The higher you go, the colder the air becomes — even on a hot Singapore day! Tap each thermometer to discover the temperature at that height. 🎈 Hightap 🌳 Middletap 🏠 Lowtap Find out: is it warmer up high or down low?
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A cloud is bornStep 3: Cooling makes a cloud ☁️ When vapour gets cold, it turns back into tiny water droplets around specks of dust. Millions of droplets together make a cloud! This is called condensation. Tap the cloud again and again to add more cold droplets and grow it! tap me! Droplets: 3 — keep tapping to grow the cloud! ☁️
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Heavy clouds make rainStep 4: Too heavy → rain! 🌧️ The droplets bump and join into bigger drops. When a drop is too heavy for the air to hold, gravity pulls it down — and that's rain! This whole journey is the water cycle. Slide to add more water to the cloud. How heavy must it get before it rains? Heaviness: 0% — the cloud is still light and fluffy.
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Put the cycle in orderBuild the water cycle 🔁 You know all four steps now! Tap them in the correct order, starting from the sun warming the sea. ?☁️ Cooling makes droplets (a cloud forms) ?☀️ The sun warms the water (it evaporates) ?🌧️ Heavy drops fall as rain ?🎈 Vapour rises high and cools down Tap the FIRST step to begin. 👆
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Quick thinkingOne quick question 🤔 Why does rain fall from a cloud instead of floating forever? Because the wind blows it down Because the drops get too heavy for the air Because clouds run out of space Pick the answer you think is right — you can try again!
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You're a rain expert!🎉☁️🌧️🎉 You did it! 🏆 Now you know the whole journey of a raindrop — the water cycle. ☀️1. EvaporationSun warms water into vapour 🎈2. Rising & coolingVapour floats up, gets cold ☁️3. CondensationDroplets form a cloud 🌧️4. RainHeavy drops fall down And it happens again and again — that's why it's called a cycle! Next time it rains in Singapore, you'll know exactly what's happening. ☔
Frequently asked questions
- How do clouds form?
- Clouds form when warm water vapour rises into colder air high above the ground. The cold makes the vapour condense into tiny water droplets around specks of dust, and millions of these droplets together make a cloud.
- Why does it rain?
- Inside a cloud, tiny droplets bump into each other and join to make bigger drops. When a drop becomes too heavy for the air to hold it up, gravity pulls it down to the ground as rain.
- What are the four steps of the water cycle in this skill?
- First the sun warms water into vapour (evaporation), then the vapour rises and cools, next the cooling forms a cloud (condensation), and finally heavy drops fall as rain. The water then collects and the cycle repeats.
- What is water vapour?
- Water vapour is water in the form of an invisible gas. It is made when the sun heats liquid water enough that it turns into gas and floats up into the air.
- Why does Singapore get so much rain?
- Singapore is hot and surrounded by sea, so the strong sun evaporates a lot of water into the air every day. All that vapour cools and condenses into heavy clouds, which is why afternoon downpours are so common.
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