(Intro)

Hi guys. Squeaks and I were just hanging around outside, enjoying looking at the clouds. It's a lot of fun to look at the clouds and think about what shapes you can see in them, but there's a lot we can learn from the clouds, too. We learned about different kinds of clouds, and the different types of weather that you might find with each of them. Do you remember the names of the different kinds of clouds, and the kinds of weather that are common with each of them?

How about if we make a game to test our memory? First, let's put our thinking caps on and see if we can remember the three kinds of clouds that we talked about before. Let's start with stratus clouds. These look like a big, fluffy blanket that's been rolled out across the sky. They form closer to the ground than many other kinds of clouds, and when you see them it usually means you're in for a cloudy, drizzly day. Next up, cumulus clouds. Cumulus clouds are super fluffy and great for cloud watching, because they make so many fun shapes. And you can usually see white, puffy cumulus clouds on a  bright, sunny day, but some kinds of cumulus clouds can bring wetter weather. If you see really big ones that are tall and gray in color, then you can expect some thunder and lightning. And, the last kind of cloud we learned about are cirrus clouds. These are thin, wispy clouds that look like thin ribbons. They form a lot higher in the sky than stratus and cumulus clouds, and when you see them it often means that you can expect nice, dry weather.

Alright, so now that we know what clouds go with each type of weather, let's make some picture cards to test our memories. For this activity, you'll need a piece of paper, some crayons or colored pencils, and some scissors. Since we'll be using scissors, make sure you let a grownup know.

First, let's cut out four squares for each of our different clouds. We'll need one for our stratus and one for our fluffy, white cumulus cloud. And, we'll need one for our tall, dark gray cumulus cloud and one for our cirrus cloud. Once the squares are cut out, let's take a good look at our cloud types one more time to remind ourselves what they look like. Cumulus clouds are fluffy, and are either short and light or tall and gray. Cirrus are thin and wispy. And stratus look bumpy and wavy, like a big blanket. Let's draw one of each of those clouds on it's own separate cloud.

Now, we'll cut out four more squares for each type of weather. First, let's draw a sun on two of the cards to show a bright, sunny day. Then, we'll draw some rain for a rainy day. And finally, let's draw a lightning bolt for a day with thunderstorms. Look, those look beautiful!

And now we're ready to play our memory game. Let's put them into rows, so we have different types of clouds on one side and types of weather on the other. Now, let's flip them over so that their pictures are face down, and mix up each row so we don't know where each one is.

OK, turn over one card from each row. Do they go with each other? Our first cloud is that wispy cloud. Do you remember what kind that is? That's right! Cirrus. Our other card is rainy. Does that cirrus cloud go with the rain? Nope. So, let's try again, and try to remember where the cards with the cirrus clouds and the rain are kept. Alright, let's flip over the same cloud card again, the cirrus, and this time let's pick a different card from our weather cards. Hmm, and the new weather card is sunny weather! Do these cards match? They do! Cirrus clouds are the kind you see on a sunny, mild day. So, let's put these two aside.

Alright, let's flip another cloud card over. Oh, it's one of those bumpy, wavy clouds that cover the sky like a blanket. Do you remember what those are called? Stratus, that's right. And, what does our next weather card have on it? Hmm, rain! Do stratus clouds mean rainy weather? They sure do!

OK, we have four cards left. Let's choose our cloud. Oh, our first card is a tall, dark cumulus cloud. What kind of weather can we expect when we see these clouds? Sunny weather or stormy weather? That's right, tall dark cumulus clouds often mean thunder and lightning. Now, let's pick one of our weather cards and see what it is. Oh, it's the sun. Do these match? Nope. Let's put these back down.

So, what if we picked up the tall, dark cumulus cloud again, and this time we flip over the other card from the row of weather cards. Oh, lightning! There we go, we have a match!

And now we figured out our last pair. Let's see what they are. Cumulus and the sun. This is a match because the white cumulus cloud goes with a sunny day. Now all of our clouds are paired up with the kind of weather that they come with.

Thanks for making your cloud memory game with us. That was fun! Now you have a fun, indoor game to play when you can't sit outside and enjoy the clouds for yourself. Do you have any questions about the weather or space or anything else at all? Grab a grownup and leave a comment down below or send us an email to kids@thescishow.com. And, I'd also like to give a big thanks to Google Making Science for helping us make this episode. Thanks, and have a great day.