Water Cycle: A Learning Cycle Lesson

In this introductory 5E learning cycle, students will explore what occurs in the water cycle through a
simulation in which they role-play a drop of water.
Teacher Background:
Water covers 71 percent of the Earth, and can exist in liuid, vapor, or solid forms. Water is constantly
moving! for example, it evaporates from oceans into the atmosphere, condenses to form clouds, falls as
rain or snow, and eventually returns to the oceans through a system of streams and rivers. "cientists
descri#e this movement of water in a model called the water cycle. Energy from the sun, which allows
evaporation, is the driving force that powers the water cycle.
Rationale:
Elementary student understanding of the cycling of water in and out of the atmosphere serves as a
prereuisite to learning a#out climatic patterns during middle school years. $herefore, it is important that
students have a firm grasp of these concepts and clarify common misconceptions. $he national standards
documents provide insight into understanding what elementary students may thin% a#out the water cycle
prior to instruction&
"tudents are familiar with the change of state #etween water and ice, #ut the idea of liuids having a
set of properties is more ne#ulous and reuires more instructional effort than wor%ing with solids. 'ost
students will have difficulty with the generali(ation that many su#stances can exist as either a liuid or
a solid. )-* students do not understand that water exists as a gas when it #oils or evaporates! they are
more li%ely to thin% that water disappears or goes into the s%y. +espite that limitation, students can
conduct simple investigations with heating and evaporation that develop inuiry s%ills and familiari(e
them with the phenomena. ,-ational "cience Education "tandards.
"tudents/ ideas a#out conservation of matter, phase changes, clouds, and rain are interrelated and
contri#ute to understanding the water cycle. "tudents seem to transit a series of stages to understand
evaporation. 0efore they understand that water is converted to an invisi#le form, they may initially
#elieve that when water evaporates it ceases to exist, or that it changes location #ut remains a liuid,
or that it is transformed into some other percepti#le form ,fog, steam, droplets, etc.. ,0ar, 1121!
3ussell, 4arlen, 5 Watt, 1121! 3ussell 5 Watt, 1116.. With special instruction, some students in 5th
grade can identify the air as the final location of evaporating water ,3ussel 5 Watt, 1116., #ut they must
first accept air as a permanent su#stance ,0ar, 1121.. $his appears to #e a challenging concept for
upper elementary students ,"ere, 1125.. "tudents can understand rainfall in terms of gravity in middle
school #ut not the mechanism of condensation, which is not understood until early high school ,0ar,
1121..
Link to Standards:
$he activities in this learning cycle will support understanding of the larger learning goal for a )-* unit
focused on the water cycle. 7ccording to the -ational "cience Education "tandards ,1118., 9'aterials can
exist in different states--solid, liuid, and gas. "ome common materials, such as water, can #e changed
from one state to another #y heating or cooling.: 7ccording to the 0enchmar%s for "cience ;iteracy ,111<.,
elementary students should develop understandings a#out the physical setting ,in this case, the Earth.&
The Physical Setting: Section B. The Earth
,)-=. Water can #e a liuid or a solid and can go #ac% and forth from one form to the other.
,<-5. When liuid water disappears, it turns into a gas ,vapor. in the air and can reappear as a
liuid when cooled, or as a solid if cooled #elow the free(ing point of water.
>hysical, conceptual and mathematical models are commonly used #y scientists to resem#le what occurs
in the natural world. Elementary students can #egin to consider the usefulness of a model as well as its
limitations. 7ccording to the 0enchmar%s for "cience ;iteracy, )-= students should %now that&
7 model of something is different from the real thing #ut can #e used to learn something a#out the
real thing.
0y the end of the 5th grade, students should %now that&
?eometric figures, num#er seuences, graphs, diagrams, s%etches, num#er lines, maps, and
stories can #e used to represent o#@ects, events, and processes in the real world, although such
representations can never #e exact in every detail.
Materials List
$he WaterAs Bourney C a childrenAs #oo% #y Eleonore "chmid
Water Wonders stations and chance cards ,7ctitivty D** in >ro@ect ;earning $ree Eurriculum ?uide.
For each student&
>aper ,to draw the water cycle.
>aper ,to write a#out the water cycle.
5 >ost-it notes ,to record o#servations from the activity.
Goals/objecties o! the lesson:
"tudents will develop the following %nowledge and a#ilities related to processes, content, and
understandings a#out science&
Science "rocesses:
"tudents will G
Science Content:
"tudents will descri#e how&
The #ature o! Science
"imulate the path that
water ta%es through the
water cycle.
+raw inferences a#out the
movement of water
through the environment
$he water cycle shows the
cycling of water in the
environment.
Water can ta%e on many
forms in the environment,
including solid, liuid, and
gas
"cientists develop physical,
conceptual, and
mathematical models to
descri#e, explain, and
predict phenomena
$ngage/$ncountering the %dea:
7s% students, 9What is a cycleH: Invite them to name some cycles that are a part of their life ,e.g.,
morning, afternoon, night! winter, spring, summer, and fall..
7s%, 94ow many of you have heard a#out the water cycleH: ,'ost students will pro#a#ly raise their
hand.. 0egin #y as%ing students to draw a picture of the water cycle.
$ell students that the water cycle is a model for thin%ing a#out the @ourney that water ta%esI
explain that you are going to read a #oo% that will descri#e more a#out $he WaterAs Bourney.
Following the reading, as% students to discuss their drawings and ideas, and how these compared
to those shared #y the author. Is there is anything the author included in her description of the
waterAs @ourney that they omitted from their drawing and vice versaH
Invite students to pair up and share their drawings with each other, suggesting modifications to
ma%e in light of the story that was read.
$&'loring the %dea:
What would it #e li%e if we were a drop of waterH What would that experience #e li%eH $ell students
you are going to play a game of chance, in which they will get to #e a drop of water.
Introduce the seven stations to students ,mountain, ocean, cloud, stream, groundwater, animal,
and plant..
+ivide students up into fairly even groups, and assign them to each station.
"tudents remove a strip from the envelope at their station. $hey should read the strip and record
their step in the @ourney, and their destination. When you give the signal, students should go to
their destination. ,3epeat this at least 5 times..
"tudents should then return to their seats and write a #rief story, from a water dropAs point of view,
that descri#es the @ourney they @ust too% during the water cycle.
$&'lanation/ (rgani)ing the %dea:
7s% students to pair up and share their stories. 4ow are their @ourneys ali%eH 4ow do they differH
4ave students share similarities and differences #etween their stories and their classmateAs.
Write the names of the seven stations on the chal%#oard, and provide each student with 5 post-it
notes. Instruct students to create a post-it #y each of the five stations they visited to create a class
#ar graph. $hen, discuss the following uestions&
1. In the game, which stations seem to #e visited mostH What can we infer from thisH
=. Ean you thin% of other parts of the water cycle that were not included in the gameH
,puddles, la%es, etc.. Where might they #e included in the cycleH
<. What do you thin% would happen if all the EarthAs water stayed in the oceansH In the
cloudsH Why do you thin% water does not stay in one placeH
*. 4ow do you thin% the water cycle is important to plants and animalsH
$&tend/ A''lying the %dea:
7s% students revisit their original drawings, considering it in terms of the pathways they and their
classmates too% during the game. "tudents can pair up and discuss their ideas together or in small
groups to decide what they would change in order to more accurately represent the water cycle.
4ave each individual student create a new drawing of the water cycle, and to write a description of
how it differs from their original drawing ,What did they learnH.. Eollect #oth the original and
revised drawings from all students.
$aluation:
J7s a summative evaluation, we will review the -7E> constructed-response assessment item C scoring,
and student answers to a uestion a#out the water cycle. Kou will then revise the uestion applying
understandings from the 'iller 5 Ealfee reading ,9'a%ing $hin%ing Lisi#le:. to create a prompt for student
expository writing. Kou will then modify the "cience Writing 3u#ric provided #y the authors.
Re!erences:
"chmid, Eleonore. ,1121.. The waters journey. -ew Kor%& -orth-"outh 0oo%s.
-ational 3esearch Eouncil. ,1118.. The national science education standards. Washington, +.E.& -ational
7cademy >ress.
7merican Forest Foundation ,111<.. Project Learning Tree Environmental Education Activity Guide: Pre K-
8 Washington, +E& 7uthor.