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THE PHYSICAL EDITION

Dew and Drips

Vince investigates drops in the garden, on a cold cup and on a window. He compares, wipes, breathes and watches water join, slide and dry. The grown-up guide connects these small changes to condensation and evaporation.

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Explore the science

Dew and observationPages 1–2

Vince notices beads of water on a leaf and grass, then turns to a grown-up with a question. Dew can form when a surface cools enough for water vapor to become liquid. A wet leaf alone cannot tell us where every drop came from: rain, spray and water released by a plant can also wet it.

Ask together: Where can you find drops in the picture?

Setting up a comparisonPages 3–4

Two matching cups start dry outside. A grown-up lowers ice into the right-hand cup while Vince watches. Starting with matching cups, similar water levels and dry outsides makes a later difference easier to notice. Ice cools one cup; its water level can also rise as the ice goes in.

Ask together: What changes when the ice goes in?

Condensation on a cool surfacePages 5–6

Vince touches the dry cup, then the beaded outside of the cup with ice. Water vapor from the surrounding air can become liquid on a sufficiently cold surface. In this room the cold cup gets wet outside while the other stays dry. Humidity, temperature and the cups affect what happens.

Ask together: How do the two outsides look different?

Condensation can continuePages 7–8

Vince wipes part of the cold cup. Later, the cloth is set aside and drops cover the surface again. Wiping takes away liquid already there. More can form while the cup stays cold enough and moist air surrounds it. The sequence shows new wetness after wiping; it does not by itself establish every possible source of water.

Ask together: What do you notice after Vince puts the cloth down?

Water in a breathPages 9–10

Vince leans toward the window, then looks at a small cloudy patch on the glass. Breath contains invisible water vapor. On cool glass it can form tiny liquid drops that make a cloudy patch. The cloudiness is liquid on the glass; the water vapor itself is invisible.

Ask together: What changes in the view through the window?

Drops joining and movingPages 11–12

Two touching drops on the cold cup join. The next picture shows a larger drop lower down, with a thin wet trail above it. Touching drops can merge into a larger drop. Collected water can run down the cup, but the surface and amount of water affect whether a drop stays put or moves.

Ask together: How has the big drop changed between the two pictures?

EvaporationPages 13–14

Vince keeps his hands away while the cloudy patch disappears from the window. Liquid water can become invisible water vapor in the air, leaving the glass visibly dry. The water has not been destroyed. Drying does not require wiping or boiling, and its speed depends on conditions.

Ask together: What can Vince see through the window now?

Returning to an observationPages 15–16

Vince returns to the familiar leaf and grass, now dry, then looks back as he walks away. The return connects the window's drying with a change outdoors. Dew can evaporate later in the morning. Looking again tomorrow may reveal a different result; dew does not appear every morning.

Ask together: What is different from Vince's first visit?

Sources and evidence

  1. Water vapor in air can condense as liquid droplets on a sufficiently cool surface.

    American Chemical Society, Lesson 2.3: Changing State—Condensation

    USGS Water Science School, Condensation and the Water Cycle

    Water vapor is invisible. Visible beads and cloudy patches are liquid water on a surface.

  2. In the illustrated humid room, the ice-water cup becomes wet outside while the matching room-temperature cup remains visibly dry.

    American Chemical Society, Lesson 2.3: Changing State—Condensation

    American Chemical Society, Condensation Station

    USGS Water Science School, Condensation and the Water Cycle

    The cup comparison depends on humidity, temperature and the cups. Start with matching intact cups, similar water levels and dry outsides; keep their surroundings comparable. In very dry air, little may happen. No fixed time or amount is promised.

  3. Wiping liquid from a cold cup does not prevent more condensation while suitable conditions persist.

    American Chemical Society, Lesson 2.3: Changing State—Condensation

    USGS Water Science School, Condensation and the Water Cycle

    More condensation can form after wiping while the surface remains cold enough and surrounding air supplies moisture. Wiping alone does not establish every possible source of wetness.

  4. Exhaled breath contains water vapor that can form tiny liquid drops on cool glass.

    American Chemical Society, Lesson 2.3: Changing State—Condensation

    A gentle breath may leave a cloudy patch on cool glass. The patch consists of liquid drops on the surface, not visible water vapor in the air. A grown-up handles any glass; do not breathe on or share drinking rims.

  5. Two touching water drops can merge into a larger drop, and collected liquid can run down a vertical surface.

    Argonne Advanced Photon Source, How Two Drops Become One

    Drop shapes and movement vary with surface conditions and the amount of water. Not every drop will run, and no exact size, speed or threshold is claimed.

  6. Liquid water can evaporate from a surface, leaving it visibly dry; the water becomes invisible vapor in the air.

    American Chemical Society, Lesson 2.2: Changing State—Evaporation

    Evaporation can occur at room temperature. The pictures show a visible drying change; they cannot show the invisible gas. There is no fixed drying time or requirement for sunshine.

  7. Dew can form on cool grass or leaves under suitable conditions and later evaporate.

    NOAA/National Weather Service, Dew and Frost Development

    WMO Guide to Meteorological Instruments and Methods of Observation, dew measurement excerpt hosted by NWS

    Dew depends on suitable cooling and moisture conditions. Not every drop on a leaf is dew: rain, spray and plant-released water can also wet leaves. Tomorrow may bring a different morning.

Water and Wind

Water and Wind, pages 1–2: Wind moves the pinwheel.

Spread 1 / 12

Wind tickles my cheek. Round goes my pinwheel.

Explore the science

Wind & forcesPages 1–2

Wind moves the pinwheel. Wind is moving air. Vince feels it on his cheek and sees it push the pinwheel's angled blades.

Ask together: What tells you that the air is moving?

Currents & eddiesPages 3–4

Water passes the rock. A leaf circles behind it. Most water passes the rock; some circles back in an eddy. Laminar flow is orderly; turbulence is irregular, mixing motion. A swirl alone cannot distinguish them.

Ask together: How does the leaf move compared with the water passing the rock?

Waves & energyPages 5–6

Waves spread from the stream. The duck bobs. The falling stream makes waves that carry energy outward and make the toys bob. The stream's current also carries toys along. Bobbing and drifting are different motions.

Ask together: What moves up and down? What moves along the pond?

BuoyancyPages 7–8

A duck floats. A pebble sinks. Water pushes upward on both objects. This buoyancy balances the duck's weight, but not the pebble's. The pebble's splash makes the rings on the next spread.

Ask together: Where is each object compared with the surface?

When waves meetPages 9–10

Two wave patterns approach one another. When gentle waves overlap, their heights add, briefly raising or lowering the surface. This interference does not erase the waves; they continue through one another.

Ask together: What might happen where the two patterns meet?

Surface tensionPages 11–12

Tiny dents appear beneath the strider’s legs. Surface tension helps support the strider where its water-repellent legs dent the water. The duck floats mainly by displacing water.

Ask together: What do you notice where its legs meet the water?

Suction & pressurePages 13–14

The duck bubbles, fills and squirts. Squeeze underwater: air bubbles out. Release with the opening submerged: the elastic duck springs back, lowering pressure inside. The surrounding water pressure pushes water in. Squeeze above water: water exits through that same opening.

Ask together: What changes when Vince squeezes and then lets go?

Lift & gravityPages 15–16

A paper plane glides forward and down. The throw starts the plane moving. Airflow around its wings produces lift and turns air downward. Gravity pulls down; drag resists motion. In still air, the plane glides forward and gradually descends.

Ask together: Where might the plane go next?

ViscosityPages 17–18

Milk runs. Honey stretches into a thread. Honey's greater viscosity means greater resistance to flow. It makes a slow thread while milk runs readily. Temperature and pouring method also matter; this snack is an observation, not a controlled test.

Ask together: How do the milk and honey move differently?

Draining & swirlingPages 19–20

Foam curves inward toward the drain. Gravity drives water through the drain. Existing turning motion can become a curved inward flow, traced by foam. Here water travels to the outlet, unlike waves crossing the pond. Not every drain swirls.

Ask together: Can you follow the foam toward the drain?

Scientific observationPages 21–22

Vince sketches what he noticed. Vince records something he noticed. Drawings, marks or words let him return to an observation. He does not need all the answers.

Ask together: Which earlier picture matches one of his drawings?

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