Water Lesson Plans
Forms, Sources, and Movement
Grade Level:
2nd Grade
** This is a two day activity:
55min each day **
Subject :
• This lesson would be it used as part of a
science unit
Objectives:
The learner will:
• Discuss different forms of water (Solid, Liquid, Gas)
• Discuss different types of water sources
• Discuss the water cycle
• Identify key components of the water cycle
• State why water conservation important in relation to
the water cycle
• Demonstrate an understanding that water
conservation is an act of recycling for the Earth. (In
third grade students will talk about reduce, reuse,
recycle..this is an introduction for that concept)
GLEC’s Addressed:
• E.FE.E.1 Water- Water is a natural resource and is found
under the ground, on the surface of the Earth, and in the sky.
It exists in three states (liquid, solid, gas) and can go back and
forth from one form to another.
• E.FE.02.11 Identify water sources (wells, springs, lakes, rivers,
oceans).
• E.FE.02.12 Identify household uses of water (drinking,
cleaning, food preparation).
GLEC’s Cont.
• E.FE.02.13 Describe the properties of water as a liquid
(visible, flowing, shape of container and recognize rain,
dew, and fog as water in its liquid state. *
• E.FE.02.14 Describe the properties of water as a solid (hard,
visible, frozen, cold) and recognize ice, snow, and hail as
water in its solid state. *
• E.FE.E.2 Water Movement- Water moves in predictable
patterns.
• E.FE.02.21 Describe how rain collects on the surface of the
Earth and flows downhill into bodies of water (streams,
rivers, lakes, oceans) or into the ground.
• E.FE.02.22 Describe the major bodies of water on the
Earth’s surface (lakes, ponds, oceans, rivers, streams).
Trade Books:
Action: Day One
Supplies needed:
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Bowl of ice
Bowl of tap water
Bowl of boiling water
Laminated “forms of water” sheet
Puzzles
Trade book
Water cycle cut-outs and paper for the class
water cycle
• Worksheets
Engage
• Have a bowl of ice, a bowl of tap water, and a bowl of boiling water ready
for the students to observe.
• Ask the students what all three of these bowls have in common
• They will give their opinions and hopefully you will lead them into a
discussion and ultimately to the conclusion that all three of these bowls
contain a form of water
• Discuss with the students that there are three forms of water : Solid,
Liquid, and Gas. There is a laminated paper that the students can look at
and read. You can set up a station with this paper for your students to
look at throughout the unit of “Fluid Water”.
• Discuss different types of water sources; or where water is found on Earth
(oceans, lakes, rivers, streams, etc.)
• Ask the students if they have ever seen rain before; most likely they will
respond yes and that’s where you can lead into questions such as where
do you think rain comes from ?and how does it get into a cloud?
Explore
• Pass out the puzzles to each of the students
• Have them work in groups to figure out how to put this
“rain” puzzle together.
• Once the students have completed their puzzles, you can
explain to them what there puzzles are representing. To
allow the concept to sink in, you can read the book, “ The
Magic School Bus: At the Waterworks” or “ The drop in My
Drink” to the class.
• While reading the book, emphasize the words water,
evaporation, condensation, precipitation, water vapor, and
water conservation.
• You can tell them that these words are major steps in
something called the water cycle!
Explain
• After reading the book, have the students look
at their puzzles. You will have a master Blown
up puzzle on the board.
• Explain the different steps of the water cycle;
pointing to each step on the puzzle as you
advance to the next step.
• This will help the students start to learn that
the water cycle goes in a sequential order.
Elaborate
• After going through each step of the water
cycle, the class will be creating a large scale
classroom water cycle.
• After completing the class water cycle, pass
out the flash card paper to the students. Have
the students write down the definition and
one or two facts about each step as you talk
about again as a class
Evaluate
• The students will be tested on the flash cards
later in the unit. They would need to know
the order of the steps, the definition, and a
fact about each step.
Action: Day Two
Supplies needed:
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Puzzles
Trade book
Water cycle cut-outs
Water saving pledge
Chalk board talk handouts
Supplies for terrarium
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2-liter bottle
Sand
Dirt
Rocks
Moss (optional)
Seeds or plants (optional)
Water
Plastic bag
Engage
• In the beginning of the second day, review
types of water, sources, and terms such as
evaporation, condensation, precipitation,
water, water vapor, and water conservation.
• Hand back the students puzzles and ask the
student if they can remember what order the
steps of the water cycle went in? Go around
the room and have the students tell you
something they learned from yesterday.
Explore
• Read the book a second time, having the students
pay attention to the words we have been
highlighting (water, water vapor, evaporation,
condensation, precipitation, and water
conservation).
• Have the students reassemble the class water
cycle having them work together to place the
pictures they made in the correct order.
• Invite some students to help you in placing
arrows in the correct order on the class water
cycle as well.
Explain
• Explain to the students that the water moving in
the water cycle does not fall exactaly where it
evaporated from.
• Some places recieve more rain while others
receive little to no rain and this can cause
problems.
• Ask the students why it is SO important to save
or preserve water.
• Ask them who needs to save water? EVERYONE!
• You can have them complete the water saving
pledge
Elaborate
• Have the students either come over to watch
or each group can make their own “rain
experiment” ; also known as a terrarium.
• This will be used as an observation tool
throughout the whole “Fluid Water” unit and
can be set up as a learning station.
Evaluate
• “Chalk Board Talk”
• Quiz/ test later in the unit
Vocabulary List
• Water
• Water Vapor
• Evaporation
• Precipitation
• Condensation
• Water conservation
** you can add on more words as the unit
progresses **
Works Cited
• * Credit to Kelsey Cohan