DURHAM, N.C. -- You could say it's taking science out of the classroom. At Forrest View Elementary School, students are learning how the weather works by using a lot of hot air.

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"We built six-to-eight feet hot air balloons out of tissue paper and Elmer's glue," said fifth-grader Michael Plesser.

The project was a real world example that hot air rises, even on a cold and rainy day.

"I expected them not to go so high in this cold and rainy weather," Plesser said.

Kent Lewis, the students' science teacher, agreed.

"We talked about the different fronts and how warm fronts and cold fronts interact and how hot air rises," Lewis said. "And we talked about how you collected weather data."

Lewis says he aims to take science outside of the classroom and teach kids that you can learn a lot in life if you just take the time to ask why.

"We put a lot of hard work into it," said fifth-grader Mya Webb. "And it was a real treat to see (the balloons) go up so high."

Lewis says the next science lesson will teach about motion.

He says roller coasters and model cars are in the future for this class.