Prior Concepts and Skills Needed

Transcription

1 Instructor Notes Water Cycle Journey The Problem Most students are familiar with only the simplified version of the water cycle. In the natural earth system, water can be found in nine different places: oceans, lakes, rivers, clouds, glaciers, soil, groundwater, plants, and animals. Movement from one area to another may happen only when water changes its state. Students will role-play a water drop as it makes its journey through the water cycle and they will record their journey with colored beads on a string. Key Science Concepts Earth Science 4 th Grade S1-C2-PO1 S1-C3-PO2 S1-C4-PO3 S6-C3-PO1, PO2 Prior Concepts and Skills Needed Students need a basic understanding of the water cycle: water cycles from clouds to the ground as precipitation and across the ground through streams to the ocean where it evaporates back up to the clouds. They will also need to know the three states water is found in: liquid, gas, and solid. Materials 9 spinners/cubes 9 station signs 9 different colored beads suede string for each student, 12 lengths flip chart and marker bead color code chart

2 Water Cycle Journey Instructor Notes Page 2 Safety and Disposal Students should be reminded to move cautiously from one area to the next so as not to spill the bead holders or cause others to drop their bead strings Getting Ready Pre-cut the suede string into 12 lengths and knot one end. Set up the nine bead holder stations (oceans, clouds, glaciers, rivers, lakes, soil, groundwater, plants, and animals) in an outside area. Fill the bead holders with the appropriate color of beads.

3 Water Cycle Journey Instructor Notes Page 3 Procedure Notes 1. What image comes to mind when you think of the water cycle? Most students are familiar with the picture of a cloud with an arrow going down to a lake which goes to the ocean and back up to the cloud again. Draw this image on the flip chart. In today s activity we will be expanding that picture. 2. What are the places water can go in the natural earth system? List student responses on the flip chart. The responses we are looking for are: river, lake, ocean, groundwater, soil, glacier, cloud, plant and animal. Give hints to encourage students to provide the answers. 3. Have students choose (or assign them) a station where they will begin their journey. Ask the students to individually identify the places water can go to from that station and what state they would have to be in to make the move. Examples: an ocean water molecule (liquid) would have to become a gas in order to move the clouds (evaporation), and a water molecule in a cloud would have to change to liquid to become a raindrop that could fall to earth in the soil (precipitation). 4. Give each student a piece of string with a knot at one end and explain how they will record their journey as they move around in the water cycle. Each station they visit has a different color of bead. The students take a bead from the holder at the station where they are beginning their journey. Then, they toss the cube (or spin the spinner) to see where they will go next. Some will have to STAY, in which case they choose another bead from that holder and spin again. If they move to another station, they pick a bead at that station and then toss the cube to see where they go next. This will continue on for the allotted time, allowing 7-8 minutes to discuss the students journeys. Students may not visit all of the stations. Some may stay at one station for multiple turns. This makes their journey unique. 5. Follow-up the activity by discussing the journeys. Responses will vary with each student. - Did each student (water drop) record the same journey? - In what places did you get stuck? - Why did you stay longer here? Since oceans make up 70% of the earth s surface, chances are many may have gotten stuck there.

4 Water Cycle Journey Instructor Notes Page 4 - Did anyone go from the ocean to cloud back to ocean again for more than one turn? This is called cycling. - Did anyone get stuck in groundwater? Movement of water through the ground is a slow process. - What station was visited most often? Assessment Students record their journey by stringing colored beads on a suede string as they roleplay a water drop as it makes its way through the water cycle. Back in the classroom students can use these strings of beads to write a story about their journey and the places they visited in the water cycle. Every student will have a different story to tell. Bead colors: baby blue river royal blue lake turquoise ocean orange groundwater clear glacier white cloud green plant red - animal brown soil Explanation In this activity, students will expand their image of the water cycle to include all nine locations where water is found in the natural earth system. Water may have to change its state in order to move from one place to the next, and students will be able to identify these states. This activity has been adapted from a project funded by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation for Rolling Rivers. Coronado RC&D and Arizona Conservation Districts and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service were also part of the joint project to get the trailers built and in use throughout the state. 1/05

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