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Two 50-minute classes
Through the activities in the lesson
the students will become more aware of the large amounts of
water used by individuals on a daily basis. They will recognize
the importance of water in our lives as well as the importance
of conserving it.
While viewing a segment of Enviro-Tacklebox™, students will
be introduced to the water cycle. They will come to understand that the
water cycle is the process by which water cycles from the land, to the
air, and back to the land again. Students will make water cycle bracelets
to help them remember the basic and fundamental steps in the water cycle.
Earth Science, Environmental Science
Students will be able to:
• Define precipitation, evaporation, and condensation as they relate to
the water cycle.
• Use the bracelet to explain the water cycle.
• Use model to track the water cycle.
• Define the three forms of water as solid (ice), liquid (water), and gas
(vapor).
• Describe water in terms of usage and resources.
National Science Education Standards
http://bob.nap.edu/html/nses/html
Physical Science
Properties of objects and materials
Unifying Concepts and Processes
Systems, order, and organization
Evidence, model, and explanation
Earth and Space Science
Changes in earth and sky
Science in Personal and Social Perspectives
Types of resources
Changes in Environments
Louisiana Science Frameworks:
State Standards for Curriculum Development
http://www.lcet.doe.state.la.us/doe/assessment/standards/SCIENCE.pdf
PS-E-A4: Describing the properties of the different states
of matter and identifying the conditions that cause matter to change
states;
ESS-E-A3: Investigating, observing, and
describing how water changes from one form to another
and interacts with the atmosphere;
SE-E-A4: Understanding that the original sources
of all material goods are natural resources and that
the conserving and recycling of natural resources is
a form of stewardship.
Video:
Enviro-Tacklebox™ , Program number 2: Water: From
The Earth To You
Web site:
http://www.envirotacklebox.org/modules/m1water.htm
This Web site (Enviro-Tacklebox™) is part of a 5-year project
of Louisiana Public Broadcasting. It is funded in part through a Star
Schools program of the United States Department of Education. This site
focuses on providing resources and opportunities for both teachers and
students in the area of environmental education.
Per Student:
• Worksheet entitled How much water? (See attached)
• 1 Leather strip approximately 30cm long
• 9 x 6 mm Pony beads in the following colors: red, green, dark blue, yellow,
clear, white, light blue
• Water Cycle Bracelet Information Sheet (See attached)
• 1 Ziplock snack bag
Per Teacher:
• 1-gallon jug of water
• Water Cycle Model (available from Boreal Laboratories: http://www.sciencekit.com)
• OR the following supplies to make your own:
• Clear plastic box with clear lid
• heat lamp
• plastic bag of ice
• food coloring
Prior to teaching this lesson prepare the hands-on element of the lesson
by:
1. Copying student handouts (2)
2. Purchasing beads and leather at craft store
3. Preparing a kit for each student. Put the
following in each snack size Ziplock bag:
When using media, provide
students with a FOCUS FOR MEDIA INTERACTION, a specific
task to complete and/or information to identify during or after
the viewing of video segments, Web sites, or other multimedia
elements.
1. In the opening discussion the teacher should ask
what we know about water. As the students begin to respond,
the teacher should record responses on the chalkboard. (Students
will probably say something like: it’s wet, we drink
it).
2. Ask your students if they think water is
important to us. (Responses will likely be yes)
3. Ask them why water is important to us? (Students
will probably say that we can’t live without it.
Guide students to realize that the reason we are able
to live here on Earth is because we have water on our
planet.)
4. Ask students how long they think a person can
live without having water to drink. (Opinions will vary).
Tell students that water is more important than even
food! A person can survive about a month without food
but only 5, 6, or maybe 7 days without water.
5. Show students a gallon jug of water. Ask them
to think about and predict how many gallons they think
each person uses everyday. Remind students that the word
predict means to make a guess. Students may talk about
it with teammates. Tell them that they will write it
on a worksheet that you will give them. Distribute worksheet
entitled How Much Water?
6. After students have recorded their prediction
for number one, have them work as a team to record predictions
for the other daily activities. When all are finished
with their predictions have students share their predictions.
(Students responses usually tend to be underestimated.)
7. Insert Enviro-Tacklebox™ , Program
number 2: Water: From The Earth To You, into
your VCR. Provide your students with a FOCUS FOR
MEDIA INTERACTION, by asking them to listen for the
actual numbers of gallons of water an average person
uses each day. You will be pausing the tape very
frequently for this activity. After each pause, allow
students to record the actual number of gallons given
on the tape. Also after each pause, ask students if their
predictions were close to the actual number of gallons.
(Students will most likely have under estimated considerably
for each activity.)
a. START the tape at the cue, a young girl sitting
at a table with a glass of drinking water. She says,”Think
of all the ways you use water at home.” After the
girl says, “35 gallons for flushing the toilet” PAUSE the
tape. Allow students to record and discuss.
b. PLAY the tape from the previous pause point.
After the boy says, “28 gallons for baths and showers” PAUSE the
tape. Allow students to record and discuss.
c. PLAY the tape from the previous pause
point. After the girl says, “18 gallons for washing
clothes” PAUSE the tape. Allow students
to record and discuss.
d. PLAY the tape from the previous pause
point. After the girl says, “13 gallons for faucets” PAUSE the
tape. Allow students to record and discuss.
e. PLAY the tape from the previous pause point.
After the boy says, “3 gallons for washing dishes PAUSE the
tape.
f. Now have the students add up the number of
gallons an average person uses each day. (If added up
correctly, the student will come up with 97 gallons per
day)
g. PLAY the tape from the previous pause point.
After the girl squirts the water gun at the camera, STOP the
tape. Allow students to record and discuss.
Note: At this time you may want to fast forward the tape just a little
so you will be ready when it is time for the Learning activity. CUE the
video to the segment on the water cycle. This is directly after the waterslide
segment. It begins with the host standing behind a model of a city. The
host says, “Models are a great way of showing how water cycles
all around us.”
8. Tell students that
there is a really neat game on the computer for them to play
when it is their turn at the computer this week. Show students
how to find the book marked website:
http://www.envirotacklebox.org/modules/m1water.htm Tell
them to click on The Water Game.
Provide your students with a FOCUS FOR MEDIA INTERACTION by
telling them that their mission is to help a little girl decide how
she can save water around the house, paying particular attention to
the water gauge on the left side of the screen. Tell students that
the family of four must use less than 400 gallons of water a day.
1. Ask students where water comes from. (Students may
say that it comes from the sky, the ocean, or from rain). Continue
to ask where that water came from. Guide students to understand
that no one is in a lab making fresh, clean water. Tell students
that it is the same water that Columbus sailed on, the same
water that cave people drank, and the same water that’s
been here since the Earth was formed.
2. Tell students that the
most amazing thing about water is that it is always moving -
moving in a cycle. Ask students what a cycle is. (Students will
probably speak about life cycles, like the butterfly). Guide
students to the fact that a cycle is a series of events that
recur regularly and usually lead back to the starting point (Merriam-Webster
Dictionary). Tell students that today they will learn about the
coolest cycle in the world: the water cycle.
3. Tape up the following
four vocabulary word cards that the students must listen for.
(groundwater, evaporation, condensation, precipitation). Leave
2 spaces between the word groundwater and evaporation.
4. Provide your students
with a FOCUS FOR MEDIA INTERACTION, asking them to listen
for these four important vocabulary words that are very important
in the water cycle.
a. START the tape (at the cue) directly after
the waterslide segment. It begins with the host standing
behind a model of a city. The host says, “Models
are a great way of showing how water cycles all around
us.” PAUSE the tape after the screen shows
the host squirting the model with a water bottle, and
the host is saying, “Runoff is what happens when
water hits the earth’s surface and runs off into
rivers, lakes, streams, or other bodies of water.” Check
for comprehension. Ask the students if they heard the
host tell us what precipitation is? (Students will say
that it is rain, snow, sleet or hail. Guide students
to remember a time when they have watched the evening
news and heard the weatherman use the word precipitation.)
b. PLAY the tape from the previous pause point. PAUSE the
tape when the screen shows the word aquifers at the bottom
of the screen, and the host is saying, “It seeps
down to underwater storage called aquifers.” Check
for comprehension. Ask students if they heard the host
talk about ground water. Ask the students what groundwater
is. (Students will likely say that it is water that comes
down from the sky and seeps into the ground.) Ask students
to tell you the difference between runoff and groundwater.
(Students will probably say that runoff is water that
runs off the earth and groundwater is water that seeps
into the ground and doesn’t run off.)
c. PLAY the tape from the previous pause point. PAUSE the
tape when the word evaporation is shown at the bottom
of the screen, and the host is saying, “Like when
water evaporates from a lake.” Check for comprehension.
Ask students to look at the word evaporation that is
taped up on the board. Ask them to look for the important
word in the word evaporation. (Students will respond
with the word vapor.) Tell students that water vapor
is in the air around us at all times, but you can’t
see it because it is a gas. The process of evaporation
changes a liquid (water) into a gas (Water vapor). Tell
students that you need heat in order for water to evaporate.
Ask students what heats the water in our oceans, rivers,
lakes, and streams. Tell students that without evaporation
our clothes hanging out on a clothesline would never
dry. When we spill water on the cement outside, without
evaporation it would never dry. (Students will probably
respond with the answer: sun.)
d. PLAY the tape from the previous pause point. PAUSE the
tape when the screen shows the word condensation at the
bottom of the screen, and the host is saying, “Condensation
is the change from a gas back to water droplets.” Ask
students if they heard what the host said about condensation.
Most will not have heard it because it moves so quickly.
You should rewind it a bit so they can hear the definition
of condensation. Tell students that if they listen carefully
now, the water cycle process will start to make sense
to them. Tell students that when the sun heats the water
in the rivers, lakes, and streams, the water gets warm
and it evaporates. This warm vapor rises high into the
sky, and it’s COLD up there. When the vapor get
cold, it changes back into water where it forms clouds.
Explain to students that when the water droplets get
big and heavy enough they will fall from the clouds as
precipitation, and the process starts all over again.
e. PLAY the tape through the demonstration of
the water cycle. STOP the tape when you see the
heading Tacklebox Teaser.
1. Tell students that the water cycle may seem complicated
but that we have an awesome way to always remember it. Explain
to students that we can associate colors with the different
steps in the cycle, and we can also use our hands to help us
remember the steps. Show students the bracelet that you have
already made. Tell them that they will make one, also. Show
students hand motions to go along with the colors.
a. As the teacher says, “The green bead
represents the groundwater that has seeped into the
earth,” she will move her hands, palms down,
very low to the ground. Have students repeat the words
and the motions.
b. As the teacher says, “The dark blue bead
represents the water found in oceans, rivers, lakes,
and streams,” she will move her hands in the motion
of waves. Have students repeat the words and motions.
c. As the teacher says, “The yellow bead
represents the sun because it warms the water in the
oceans, rivers, lakes, and streams,” she will put
her arms up over her head to make the shape of the sun.
Have students repeat the words and motions.
d. As the teacher says, “The clear bead
represents the water vapor rising in the air because
you can’t see it – evaporation,” she
will put her palms up and raise her arms in the air while
wiggling her fingers. Have students repeat the words
and motions.
e. As the teacher says, “The white bead
represents the clouds formed by the water vapor that
turns back into water droplets when it reaches the cold
air up high in the sky. – condensation,” she
will clap and clasp her hands together over her head.
Have students repeat the words and motions.
f. As the teacher says, “The light blue
bead represents the water that falls back to the earth
as rain, hail, sleet, or snow – precipitation,” she
will put her palms face down with her hands over her
head and bring her arms down slowly while wiggling
her fingers. Have students repeat words and motions.
2. Ask students what they
think happens now. (Students will probably say that the whole
thing starts all over again)
3. Distribute handout entitled
the water cycle bracelet and one prepared kit to each student.
4. Tell students to use
the handout to help them put the beads in the correct order.
Remind them to think about the hand motions they just learned.
Explain that this will help to jog their memory. Tell students
that the red bead is just a bead to close your bracelet. The
color is not significant. Explain to students that in order to
close the bracelet they will have to put both ends of the leather
strap together and fit them both into the red bead. This is difficult,
but assure them that it can be done. It helps if you use the
red bead like a screw. Keep turning and turning until you have
it in enough to pull it all through. Some students will do this
more quickly than others. Have them help each other.
5. As they finish, have
them come up to see the water cycle model that is set up in the
room.
6. As an assessment for
this lesson the teacher should check that the colored beads are
in the correct order on the bracelet. You may want to have each
child orally explain the water cycle using the bracelet.
LANGUAGE ARTS:
• Make a booklet explaining
the water cycle. Include illustrations.
• In a daily journal write
down parts of the water cycle that you see.
• Keep a journal for daily
water use.
• Schedule a program with
The Teche/Vermilion Blue Thumb Project. This project was developed
by the Acadiana Resource Conservation and Development Council.
They present programs to students grades 3-adult. Program addresses
water quality issues in our communities. It is designed with
educational benchmarks in mind, and is available free of charge.
Contact the project coordinator, Kelly Taylor. TV_Blue_Thumb@Hotmail.com
• Schedule a speaker
from the Department of Environmental Quality. The Lafayette
office has speakers that do hands-on activities that
involve water pollution as well as recycling.
• Poster entitled The Water Cycle—Nature’s Recycling System from
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation
Service (NRCS) 1-888-LAND CARE
See attached, Student Materials include:
• HOW MUCH WATER? ( PDF )
• THE WATER CYCLE BRACELET ( PDF )
