Mr. Nolde's Convection Demonstration -This film demonstrates what happens when a body of warmer liquid is placed under a much colder body of liquid. If you look carefully, you can see the colder water replacing the warmer water that is leaving the glass flask!

Don't forget to click on the zoom and full screen buttons for better viewing!

Convection in a Room Part 1 -As you have hear me say in class before, whether we are working with water or we are working with air, they both behave in quite similar ways.  This experiment demonstrates what happens when a heat source such as a radiator provides warm air to a room full of cooler air.

Don't forget to click on the zoom and full screen buttons for better viewing!

Convection in a Room Part 2 -What happens when this fish tank experiment is left to sit out for a while?  Well, the small bottle of warm water eventually cools down to the point that it's temperature is similar to that of the rest of the fish tank full of water.  When this happens, "no movement occurs!" 

Don't forget to click on the zoom and full screen buttons for better viewing!

Continental Plate Motion Demonstration -How can we demonstrate that the tectonic plates in the crust are slowly moving due to the convection currents within the mantle?? Watch this demonstration to see convection currents in action! As you can see, I carefully placed tiny bits of wax paper on the surface of the tank of water.  As the  convection currents from the warm water in the flask below begins to circulate, the bits of wax paper begin to circulate as well- JUST like our tectonic plates do from the convection currents that circulate in the semi-liquid mantle.  (It just happens much more slowly with the crustal plates- OF COURSE!) 

Don't forget to click on the zoom and full screen buttons for better viewing!

Convection Box Demonstration -Quite often, it is difficult to actually see the movement of convection currents when it comes to air. In this classic experiment, we are able to see the movement of convection currents as the smoke from the smoldering paper towel travels downward with the cool air into the box. The cooler air is drawn into the box as it replaces the warmer air that leaves the box. The warmer air leaves the box due to the heat of the candle heating the air under the second hole in the box.

Don't forget to click on the zoom and full screen buttons for better viewing!