Classroom Teacher Preparation
Earth Science 12: The Water Cycle
Please use the following to prepare for the next SfS lesson.
Description
This module presents a game that explains how water cycles through different forms and storage types on Earth and in
Earth’s atmosphere. Students act as water molecules and move around the room to the different places water is found on
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Earth. This lesson is geared towards younger (4 & 5 grade) students.
Preparation:
Students should be familiar with the states of matter and how matter changes state, i.e., evaporation is the transition from
liquid to gas, condensation is gas to liquid, melting is solid to liquid, and freezing is liquid to solid.
Vocabulary:
Introduce these terms:
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Evaporation – the change of state from liquid to gas
Condensation – the change of state from gas to liquid
Melting – the change of state from solid to liquid
Freezing – the change of state from liquid to solid
These terms will be defined in lesson:
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Groundwater – water stored underground in spaces between rocks
Aquifer – an area of completely saturated groundwater
Precipitation – water falling to the earth from the atmosphere
Runoff – water traveling over the surface of the earth
Infiltration – water penetrating into the upper surface of the earth
Percolation – water penetrating deep into the surface of the earth and reaching an aquifer
Transpiration – water being released from plants and allowed to evaporate into the atmosphere
Room Set Up for Activities:
There will need to be nine different stations (aquifers, atmosphere, oceans, etc.) set up around the room. For the activity,
we will distribute the students to the nine stations where they will use dice to flip a card and learn where they will move for
each round.
Safety
There are no safety issues.
Lesson Objectives – SWBAT (“Students Will Be Able To…”):
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Understand that all of the Earth’s water remains in the biosphere
Explain that water exists in different states in different places
Explain that water cycles through a system, changing states along the way
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MCAS/NGS Standards Covered:
MCAS Standards:
3-5 ESS10 “Describe how water on earth cycles in different forms and in different locations, including underground and in
the atmosphere.”
NGS Standards:
5-ESS2.1: Develop a model using an example to describe ways the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and/or
atmosphere interact.
5-ESS2.2: Describe and graph the amounts and percentages of water and fresh water in various reservoirs to provide
evidence about the distribution of water on Earth.
MS-ESS2-4: Develop a model to describe the cycling of water through Earth's systems driven by energy from the sun and
the force of gravity.
Related Modules
Chemistry 11: States of Matter – For younger students, this module introduces the three commonly-observed states of
matter (solid, liquid, gas), the most commonly-occurring one (plasma, which makes up the stars), and allows them to
observe many of the transitions between the different states. For older students, the topic is connected to heat transfer, as
they consider how the flow of energy between materials allows the transitions to occur.
Earth Science 6: Saving the Beach - Students will examine the causes of beach erosion and discuss how erosion affects
a beach and its ‘stakeholders’. Students work in small groups to engineer solutions to beach erosion through
brainstorming, planning, and designing prototypes for their model beaches.
Additional Resources:
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USGS Water Cycle Poster: http://water.usgs.gov/edu/watercycle-kids.html
Scholastic Water Cycle Study Jams: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/activity/water-cycle-studyjams-activity
WGBH Videos and Activities: The PBS educational site is a great, free resource for educators but you must create an
account to use the materials. The first time you log in to the PBS Learning Media website you will be asked to create an
account and provide an email and password. Once you have logged in, select “keep me logged in” to avoid having to
repeat the process.
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NASA: The Hydrologic Cycle: http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/ess05.sci.ess.watcyc.hydrocycle/thehydrologic-cycle/
Science from Scientists • 515 Beacon Street • Boston, MA 02215
617-314-7773 • info@sciencefromscientists.org • www.sciencefromscientists.org
Copyright © 2014 Science from Scientists
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