day 6: an introduction to the water cycle
Objective:
- The students will be able to explain the sources of water on Earth and that the amount of water on Earth remains constant.
- The students will be able to explain the sources of water on Earth and that the amount of water on Earth remains constant.
Materials:
- Follow the Water from Brook to Ocean, by Arthur Dorros. Water Cycle Wheel cutouts from here. (Don't forget Part 2). An aquarium, a margarine container, plastic wrap, soil, rocks, water, tape, ice and a heat lamp (both optional).
- Follow the Water from Brook to Ocean, by Arthur Dorros. Water Cycle Wheel cutouts from here. (Don't forget Part 2). An aquarium, a margarine container, plastic wrap, soil, rocks, water, tape, ice and a heat lamp (both optional).
Procedure:
- Before class, create a water cycle environment as described here
- Read Follow the Water from Book to Ocean. Stop often to ask questions, point out vocabulary, etc.
- After reading the book, discuss the water on Earth with children. Get an idea of how much they already know by asking about the vocabulary words, where water comes from, etc.
- Explain that all the water on Earth has always been here, and it always will. The water we drink, at one point, was probably drunk by a dinosaur! Begin to talk about where water comes from. Get as many ideas from the students as possible. Begin to draw a picture on the board. Include rain and other precipitation, rivers, streams, lakes, oceans, and whatever else the students volunteer. Add in an aquifer, and explain groundwater and surface water.
- Reconnect the students to the idea of cycles. Remind them that we have discussed the cycles of days, seasons/years, and lunar months/moon phases, and now we are going to focus on the water cycle. Explain to them that water is continuously changing form, and that the water you see in clouds, as lakes, as steam, and in the ocean is all part of the water cycle. Without using terminology quite yet, explain the evaporation/condensation/precipitation concept.
- Hand out the water cycle wheel. Have students cut it out, color it, and assemble it. Throughout the week, as we add terminology, the words should be added to the wheel.
- Draw the students' attention to the water cycle environment you have created. Ask them what they think is going to happen to the water in the dish over the next couple of days. After a short discussion, have them journal about their hypotheses and draw diagrams about what they think is going to happen.
Differentiation:
This lesson is very basic, none should be necessary
This lesson is very basic, none should be necessary
Assessment:
Again, this lesson is very introductory. The formative assessment is performed continuously, while gauging students' existing knowledge, and while discussing. The summative assessment can be the journaling.
Again, this lesson is very introductory. The formative assessment is performed continuously, while gauging students' existing knowledge, and while discussing. The summative assessment can be the journaling.
Resources: Water Cycle Lesson Plan