Theme: Planet Water
Title: The Three Forms of Water
Overview: On earth, water can be found in three
different forms: solid, liquid, and gas. Water is the
only substance found in those three forms in nature.
Water changes forms when it is heated or cooled.
Grade Level: 1-3
Subject Matter: Science
Duration: 4 class periods of about 30 minutes each
National Standards Addressed:
Physical Science
Standard B:
 Properties of Objects and Materials
Earth and Space Science
Standard D:

Properties of Earth Materials
Objectives:
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Students will identify the three forms of water.
Students will name physical properties of ice, water, and steam.
Students will know the effects of heating and cooling of solids, liquids, and
gases.
Materials:
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Computers with internet access
3 plastic tumblers-one with water, one with ice cubes, one empty
Rubber glove filled with water and frozen
Copyright 2008 Jim Metzner Productions – All Rights Reserved
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Heating element
Pot (large enough to fit the frozen rubber glove)
Wax paper
Eyedropper, quarter, dime for each student
 Glass of water, paper clips, dish detergent
Procedure:
Part 1:
 Show the class a clear glass of water and one with ice cubes.
o Ask what is in each glass
o The relationship between water and ice should come up.
 Explain solid, liquid, and gas if the students do not bring that up.
 Use the web link below for student information on the 3 forms of water. It
is one page:
What Three Forms Can Water Take? – American Water Works
Association / Morris County Municipal Utilities Authority
http://www.ccwater.com/education/WaterStory/AWWAVersion/html/3forms
.htm
 The following web link of student information has more information if the
class does not have much prior knowledge:
Water Has Three Different Forms! – Manatee County, Florida / School
District
http://www.manatee.k12.fl.us/sites/elementary/samoset/1water2.htm
 Do class demonstration of activity on this website. It is called “Forms of
Water.” (Rubber glove with water in it and frozen is placed in a pot of
water and heated.) On paper folded into fourths, have students draw and
label what they see happening in the activity:
Water Forms (natural) – Iowa Dept. of Natural Resources
http://www.atozteacherstuff.com/pages/318.shtml
Part 2:
 Review the 3 forms of water. Show the plastic tumblers like Part 1. One
with ice, water, and a third one empty.
 Discuss the shape of a liquid. Pour the water into another container of a
different shape, a cube or rectangular prism. Students should see that
liquid takes the shape of the container it is in.
 Put the ice cubes into another container-the same one as the water can
be used. Ask students what they notice about water as a solid and the
shape it takes. Students should see that solids keep their shape.
 Discuss the empty tumbler. From what they learned yesterday, they
should say that it has water as a gas in it. Conclude that water, as a gas,
takes the shape of the container it is in.
 Tell students that water is made up of molecules. The molecules behave
differently depending on what form the water takes.
Copyright 2008 Jim Metzner Productions – All Rights Reserved
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Do a demonstration of how the molecules move depending on what form
the water takes.
Have about 6 students come to an open area of the classroom. Have
them spread themselves apart from each other in a random order. Tell
them they are the particles in water as a gas. They should move quickly
from one place to another. Stay in each place a second or two. Keep a
lot of space between themselves and the others. Let them move around
for a minute or so.
Next have another group of about 15 students come to the open area of
the classroom. They should also separate themselves from each other in
random order. They will model the particles in water when it is a liquid.
They should be closer to each other than the gas particles were. They will
move easily past one another sliding into a space that once was occupied
by another student. Let them move around for a minute or so.
Lastly, the whole class can come forward. (If space allows.) Arrange them
in a tight, regular pattern. They are modeling how the particles in a solid
move. They will not move their feet from their place. They move very little,
basically just side to side. They move for a minute or so.
Part 3:
 Ask children how water changes from one form to another. (They should
mention change in temperature.)
 Use lesson 3 from the following website “Water Changes Forms When it is
Heated or Cooled”:
Water Has Three Different Forms! – Manatee County, Florida / School
District
http://www.manatee.k12.fl.us/sites/elementary/samoset/1water2.htm
 Discuss ‘fog.’ (Fog is condensed water vapor like a cloud at ground level.)
 Ask them to predict what a ‘fog net’ is. Then listen to POP #846 Fog Nets.
Afterward discuss what they learned about a fog net. (A fog net is used in
places where water is scarce. The water vapor in the air collects on nets.
Water is then collected from the nets.)
 Discuss the different forms of water in fog nets.
 For a second time, listen to POP #846. Listen for details on how the fog
net works and what it looks like.
 Have each student draw, color, and label a picture of a fog net. They
should include: 2 posts, net, trough, and pipe. They also should label
water as a gas (water vapor) and a liquid.
Part 4:
Surface Tension
 Ask the class what will happen if you drop a penny or stone into a glass of
water. Then show them. (The items sink to the bottom of the glass.) Ask
what they think will happen when a paper clip is dropped into the glass.
Then drop it in the glass. It will sink. Ask them if they think they can get
Copyright 2008 Jim Metzner Productions – All Rights Reserved
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the paper clip to float on the surface. Let individuals try it. Use the
website below to explain surface tension:
Surface Tension Experiment – Hometrainingtools.com
http://www.hometrainingtools.com/articles/experiments-with-waterscience-project.html
Give each student a piece of wax paper and eyedropper. Have children
put several drops of water on the wax paper and observe the shape of the
water drops. Discuss what they see.
On a sheet of paper each child will predict how many drops of water will fit
on quarter and a dime. “The quarter will hold _____ drops of water.”
“The dime will hold _____drops of water.”
Have each child put drops of water on the quarter and count each one.
Record the number on the prediction paper. Then do the same with the
dime.
Discuss the results with the class. Why did students get different results?
Optional idea:
Another surface tension activity can be found at:
What is Surface Tension? – EPA / Office of Water
http://www.epa.gov/OWOW/NPS/kids/TENSION.HTM
Scroll down for more…
Copyright 2008 Jim Metzner Productions – All Rights Reserved
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Additional Resources
Images
Name: Water Reflections
URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Water_Flash.JPG
Caption: Water reflecting light in Crissy Field.
Credit: Marlith
Name: Watercopter
URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:MH60S_Helicopter_dumps_water_onto_Fire.jpg
Caption: Water is used for fighting wildfires.
Credit: U.S. Dept. of Defense
Name: Irrigation
URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:SiphonTubes.JPG
Caption: Irrigation of fields crops.
Credit: USDA
Name: Tree in Fog
URL: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/jkl/?n=fog_types
Caption: Freezing fog occurs when the water droplets that the fog is composed of
are "supercooled". Supercooled water droplets remain in the liquid state until
they come into contact with a surface upon which they can freeze. As a result,
any object the freezing fog comes into contact with will become coated with ice.
Credit: NOAA
Name: Lake Surface
URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Water_surface_lake.jpg
Caption: The surface of a freshwater lake in daylight.
Credit: Manage891a3 / Wikipedia
Name: Iceberg 10
URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Carlb-newfoundland-iceberg-2002.jpg
Caption: An iceberg as seen from Newfoundland.
Credit: Carl B. / Wikipedia
Name: Ocean Wave
URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Cornwall_Wave.jpg
Caption: An ocean surface wave crashing into rocks.
Credit: Earth Network Editor
Copyright 2008 Jim Metzner Productions – All Rights Reserved
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Web Links
What Three Forms Can Water Take? – American Water Works Association /
Morris County Municipal Utilities Authority
http://www.ccwater.com/education/WaterStory/AWWAVersion/html/3forms.htm
Water, the Never Ending Story – National Institute of Environmental Health
Sciences
http://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/scied/students/activities.cfm
Water for Kids – EPA
http://www.epa.gov/water/kids.html
Water – EPA: Environmental Kid’s Club
http://www.epa.gov/kids/water.htm
Water Has Three Different Forms! – Manatee County, Florida / School District
http://www.manatee.k12.fl.us/sites/elementary/samoset/1water2.htm
Round and Round It Goes: The Water Cycle – Environmental Education Kids /
Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/caer/ce/eek/earth/groundwater/watercycle.htm
Follow a Drop Through the Water Cycle – USGS
http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/followadrip.html
Earth’s Water – USGS
http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/mearthall.html
Water Phases – Teacher’s Domain / WGBH
http://www.teachersdomain.org/resources/ess05/sci/ess/watcyc/waterphases/ind
ex.html
What is Surface Tension? – EPA / Office of Water
http://www.epa.gov/OWOW/NPS/kids/TENSION.HTM
Surface Tension of Water – Creativekidsathome.com
http://www.creativekidsathome.com/science/water.html#Trivia%20Answers
The Nature of Water: Surface Tension – Environment Canada
http://www.ec.gc.ca/water/en/nature/prop/e_surf.htm
Properties of Water – Environment Canada
http://www.ec.gc.ca/water/en/nature/prop/e_prop.htm
Copyright 2008 Jim Metzner Productions – All Rights Reserved
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Water: Nature’s Musician – Environment Canada
http://www.ec.gc.ca/water/en/info/pubs/FS/e_FSA1.htm
Video
Water Surface Tension Experiments for Kids – Expertvillage.com
http://www.expertvillage.com/video-series/717_surface-tension.htm
Animation / Graphics
The Water Cycle (see water cycle in motion) – EPA
http://www.epa.gov/safewater/kids/flash/flash_watercycle.html
Who Owns a Raindrop? (requires flash media)– Cleanwaterways.org
http://cleanwaterways.org/kids/who_owns_raindrop.html#
Water Phases – Teacher’s Domain / WGBH
http://www.teachersdomain.org/resources/ess05/sci/ess/watcyc/waterphases/ind
ex.html
Morphie’s Great Water Ride Adventure – Environment Canada
http://www.on.ec.gc.ca/greatlakeskids/morphie-story-title_e.html#content
Articles
“Water Three Phases Are a Key to the Weather” – USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/wwatphse.htm
Just For Kids
The Water Cycle (includes forms of water) – Kidszone.com
http://www.kidzone.ws/WATER/
Water Has Three Different Forms! – Manatee County, Florida / School District
http://www.manatee.k12.fl.us/sites/elementary/samoset/1water2.htm
Let’s Weather Together – Planetpals.com
http://www.planetpals.com/weather.html
Clean Waterways for Kids
http://cleanwaterways.org/kids/
Copyright 2008 Jim Metzner Productions – All Rights Reserved
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Other
Forms of Water (experiment) – AtoZteacherstuff.com
http://www.atozteacherstuff.com/pages/318.shtml
Water Quiz – Manatee County, Florida / School District
http://www.manatee.k12.fl.us/sites/elementary/samoset/1water2vocab1.htm
Watershed of Words (PDF - kids’ poetry and stories about water) – Clark County,
TX Public Works
http://www.clark.wa.gov/waterresources/documents/2008%20Watershed%20of%20Words%20web.pdf
Surface Tension Experiment – Hometrainingtools.com
http://www.hometrainingtools.com/articles/experiments-with-water-scienceproject.html
Special thanks to the following scientists for their help with this project:
Pulse of the Planet Programs: # 846 “Fog Nets”
Robert Schenmenauer
Executive Director
Fog Quest
Header Image
Name: Water Reflections
Credit: Marlith
Copyright 2008 Jim Metzner Productions – All Rights Reserved
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