I am a mass of small water droplets that float in the air. I look like large balls of cotton that float across the sky. I play a great part in the earth's weather. The water that I bring, like rain or snow, is necessary for all forms of life. I sometimes bring destruction, or even death, in the form of hail and tornadoes.

Sometimes I am a great fleecy mass of white floating across the sky. Sometimes I look like a great big feather floating in the sky. At other times, I am dull gray or black. When I block out the sun, I make the earth darker. I usually change shapes while I'm in the sky. I do this because some parts of me start to evaporate when I am mixed with air that is drier than me. I also can change shape because of the action of the wind. Sometimes people say I look like an animal, a person or an object.

There are many different types of me. The scientists on earth give me a lot of names. For example, one of my names is strato which is the prefix for stratocumulus. It means a layer of sheetlike clouds. When I am a stratocumulus cloud, I appear like white sheets in the sky. Another name is cumulus which means piled. When I am a cumulus cloud, I look like masses of white cotton that are piled on top of each other in the sky. Another name is cirro which means curls. I am very changeable, but I am also interesting to look at.