Lesson Plan: The Water Cycle

Information, Media, and Technology Skills (P21.org)

Media Literacy ?Create Media Products:

Materials

• Student Notes
• Demonstrations/Labs (See Demonstration for list of materials)
• Student Notes
• Diagrams Visuals
• ?Student Capture Sheet
• Videos see powerpoint
• Comic Strip or Storyboard Template Graphic Organizer
• Peer Edit Rubric
• ?StoryJumper and ToonDoo Project
• Project Rubric

Thinking Routine

Think-Share-Pair: Is designed to have students think about the water cycle, then pair with another student and share their thoughts.?Use to Think, But Now I Know: This routine helps students reflect on their thinking about the water cycle and explore how and why that thinking has changed.

Lesson Activities and Procedures

Lesson Procedures and Activities: (2 Days)

1. Students will think-pair-share an answer to the following question: “What is precipitation?” (Slide 3) The teacher can record their answers on the board.

2. Show the video, “The Freshwater Connection” (1:25)

 

(Slide 4) (This is an introduction to why it is important to study the water cycle.)

3. After the video, have students Think-Pair-Share the question, “Based upon what we just viewed, why is it important to study and understand the water cycle?” (Slide 5) Solicit responses. (5 min)

Explore:?1. Hand out the Water Cycle Capture Sheet. Students will use this throughout the rest of the lesson following the power point and demonstrations.

2. Show the water cycle video (Slide 6). Students should be labeling their blank diagrams as they watch. This version of the water cycle is more complex than the one on their capture sheets. Students only need to copy the ones from the word bank.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iohKd5FWZOE.

3. Ask, “Which of the stages in the water cycle require energy from the Sun?”?(Evaporation and Transpiration.) Click on the diagram (Slide 7) and the correct labels will be circles.

*The demonstrations give the students a visual, concrete model of a relatively abstract concept. The understanding of the water cycle is important through their learning and these demonstrations help to reinforce their understanding. Students will complete the demonstration questions at the end of each demonstration. Answers will be written down on the Student Capture handout.

Evaporation Demonstration: (8 min) (Slide 8)?

I will emphasis to the students that the sun is the heat source that drives the water cycle.

Materials:? Beaker of water 200 ML?Bunsen Burner?Beaker Tongs

Procedures:

• Ask students “What will happen when heat is added to the beaker of water?”

• Turn on heat lamp to represent the incoming solar radiation, and light the Bunsen ?Burner.

• The beaker of water represents large bodies of water like oceans. The Bunsen burner ?represents the heating of the water as it absorbs the suns radiations.

• “What happens to the water as it recovers heat energy from the Sun?” Emphasizes that ?the water temperature will increase the longer the water is exposed to the sun’s energy.

• “What phase change is occurring in the water?” (Liquid -> Gas)

Explain that the molecules of water are getting more excited and moving faster. This ?added energy allows them to move apart and become a gas-just like the earth’s surface does every day.

Transpiration Demonstration: (8 min) (Slide 9)

Materials:? Potted Plant?,Clear Plastic Bag, ?Rubber Band

Procedures:

• Place a bag over part, or all of a well watered, potted plant.
• Tie off the bottom of the bag so it’s tightly closed.
• Show students that there is water in the baggy.
• Ask the students how the water got in there.

Explain that the plant takes in water ?through their roots. The water is moved throughout the plant and then evaporates through its pore and stomata. Also, this process happens continually, wherever there are plants.

4. Ask, “Which of the stages requires water to give off heat? (Condensation) (Slide 10). Click on the diagram and the correct labels will be circles. Go to next slide.

Condensation Demonstration (8 min)

Materials:  Cloud?Materials: ?2 liter pop bottle with cap, 40 ml of water?, 1 match?, 1 match striker?, Warm tap water- fill bottle with about 2 inches

Procedures:

• Shake the bottle with lid for 5 seconds so there is water vapor in the bottle

• Squeeze the bottle and release the pressure. Explain that when a compressed gas ( air ?inside the squeezed bottle) expands rapidly (releasing the squeeze quickly), it cools. A everyday example of this is the way a metal hairspray or deodorant can feel cooler after it is used.

• Ask what they see form inside the bottle. (No clouds should form, but here may be a little condensation on the sides of the bottle.) Ask why this happened. (Some of the water vapor cooled and condensed back into a liquid on the sides of the bottle but Not the air.)

• Tell students to take off the bottle cap and, as a team they will address the smoke in the bottle.

  • One partner holds the bottle on the table?o

  • Another partner holds the cap

  • The third partner lights the match and counts to 3 and drops it in the bottle

  • The first person replaces the cap tightly.

The quickly cooling air should now form a cloud in the bottle. ( It may take two to three squeezes for the cloud to form. Explain that this happens because the water vapor has condensation nuclei (the smoke particle’s) on which to condense. The tiny smoke particles are like the pop can and mirror in the previous demonstration.

?5. Ask, “Which of the stages are driven by the force of gravity?” (Slide 12). (Precipitation, Runoff, Infiltration, Groundwater Flow) Click on the diagram and the correct labels will be circles. ?

Complete the teacher demonstration Freshwater from Saltwater Demo: (10 min) (Slide 9). ?Freshwater from Saltwater Demo: (10 min) (Slide 15 & 16)

1. Look at the “Ocean” container in which the teacher evaporated the water. What do

you observe?

2. Using what you just observed explain why cloud and precipitation contains fresh water

even though much of the water vapor comes from oceans and seas. Label the Diagram

Word Bank:

Evaporation

Condensation

Precipitation

Run off Infiltration

Groundwater

Solar Radiation

Transpiration

1. Which parts of the water cycle require energy form the sun?

?2. Which parts of the water cycle require the water molecules to give away heat energy (cool down)?

3. Which parts of the water cycle are caused by the force of gravity?

Evaluate: (1 to 2 days) Students will have class time and are expected to work on this for homework. (Slide 18 – 20)

For this project, you will describe the movement of a water drop through the water cycle. The drop may begin anywhere in the cycle and must go through at least two phase changes, (i.e. liquid to gas and back to liquid or solid). You must also include how gravity and the sun’s radiation drive the cycle.

Imagine you are a water molecule telling the story of your journey. Use what you learned from the previous lessons to demonstrate your understanding of how the water cycles. Include the places you go, and the changes you make as you travel through the cycle. Use the vocabulary words written below correctly in your story. Show what you know and be as creative as possible. You will be provided with a graphic organizer to brainstorm ideas for your story or comic strip. Once approved by the teacher you can begin to create your ToonDoo or Story Jumper.

You have 2 options for this project: ToonDoo Comic Strip or create a story using Story Jumper.

You may make a comic strip or story with a molecule of water as the main character.

1. The comic or story must include text that explains what is happening in each ?frame/page.

2. The text can be dialogue ‘spoke’ by the drop, or written as captions at the bottom of ?the frames.

3. The following terms must be included: Evaporation, Condensation, Precipitation, ?Transpiration, Run Off, Solar Radiation, and Ground Water.

4. You will be graded based on the rubric and peer-editing handout.

Peer Edit

• Once you complete your comic strip or story you will peer edit to make corrections or suggestions. (See Handout)

• Make your final changes and submit your project to the teacher.

Lesson Closure

• After students have completed their comic strip or story they will complete the “I use to think routine”?When we began this study of The Water Cycle, you all had some initial ideas about it and what it was all about. In just a few sentences, I want to write what it is that you used to think about? The Water Cycle. Take a minute to think back and then write down your response to “ I used to? think…” ?Now, I want you to think about how your ideas of The Water Cycle have changed as a result of what we’ve been studying/doing/discussing. Again, in just a few sentences

write down what you now think about Water Cycle. Start your sentences with, “Now I think…”(See Handout)

Assessment

Formative assessments will be carried out throughout the lesson in the form of discussions, demonstrations, on task behavior, written/ oral responses, and worksheet completion.

The Summative assessment will be the student created electronic comic strip using Toondoo or story bird. It will be graded based on the teacher created rubrics. (See Rubric)

Student Work Example

 

Author Profile: 

Heidi Gruber

 

 

 

 

 

References:

NASA Earth’s Water Cycle Lesson plan:  http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011000/a011054/