The Water Cycle
May 1994
These lesson plans are the result of the work of the teachers who have attended the
Columbia Education Center's Summer Workshop. CEC is a consortium of teacher from 14
western states dedicated to improving the quality of education in the rural, western,
United States, and particularly the quality of math and science Education. CEC uses Big
Sky Telegraph as the hub of their telecommunications network that allows the participating
teachers to stay in contact with their trainers and peers that they have met at the
Workshops.
AUTHOR: Vilia Natchez, Our Lady of the Snows School, Reno, Nevada
GRADE LEVEL: Appropriate for grades 2-4
OVERVIEW:
The water cycle explains the sun heating the earth's surface water so that it
evaporates. This vapor gathers in clouds which rise to the cold air. When those clouds
become too heavy to float, they release their moisture as precipitation. The precipitation
collects in lakes or oceans after siphoning through soil or running down rivers. It then
evaporates and repeats the cycle once again.
OBJECTIVE(s): Students will be able to:
- Explain how the water cycle recycles the earth's water supply.
- Make use of the knowledge of landforms learned in social studies.
- Form a hypothesis on how/why the water cycle works.
- Use language arts skills of writing and drawing to explain how the cycle works.
RESOURCES/MATERIALS: Assemble these materials:
- soil
- water
- small margarine bowl
- large, clear plastic container or an old aquarium
- plastic wrap
- plastic trees, animals, boat, etc. are optional
- tape or large elastic band
- bag of ice (optional)
- heat lamp (optional)
ACTIVITIES AND PROCEDURES:
- Arrange the soil in the container to make mountains, plateaus, hills, etc., and a lake
basin. Place the margarine bowl in the lake basin. Fill the bowl with water. The plastic
toys may be added to appeal to the children's imaginations. Cover the container tightly
with plastic wrap and secure it by means of tape or the band.
- Discuss what is expected to happen in the container.
- Depending on the amount of sun, the project may take 1- 3 days. In order to speed the
process, a bag of ice may be placed on one end of the covered container, while a heat lamp
is focused on the other.
- Watch for condensation on the plastic "sky" of the container. When enough
moisture collects, it will fall onto the landforms as precipitation.
- Compare the hypothesis to actual results by discussion.
- Encourage the students to draw the water cycle using arrows to show the flow.
- Ask the students to write a paragraph explaining their picture. A word bank might be
used if needed. Possible words for the bank are: condenses (cools), vapor, clouds,
evaporate, precipitation (rain/snow), heavy, soil, oceans, lakes. Try to elicit these
words from the students.
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