The
Water Cycle
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The
Water Cycle |
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Why did I choose this inquiry?
What did I like about this
inquiry? What would I change about
this inquiry? How did I connect this to
other lessons? Comments: This inquiry worked very well. As a class we will continue to observe and discuss our models throughout the remainder of the school year. I've asked the students to make written predictions on what the fate of our grass will be by the end of the quarter. Some have conceded that the grass is doomed to die, while about 2/3 of the class said that as long as no water escapes the bottles, the grass will grow until I manage to kill it. Joe Ohradzansky Day 1--Water Cycle Construction: Students were interested and on task. My class has 28 students, so we worked in 7 groups. Directions were clear and easy to follow. As a variable for interest of comparison, two of the eight (including my sample) water cycle columns were built completely from green 2-liter bottles. All others were built from clear 2-liter bottles. Day 2--Game Construction: To improve the durability of the spinner template, I copied them on card stock and laminated them before gluing them onto the cardboard. I also used a brass fastener to attach the "s" shaped paper clip to the spinner board. Day 3--The Game: The students seemed to enjoy and understand movement through the game. They want to play again. During the discussion following the game, students connected and identified the various processes of the water cycle as physical changes. We studied physical and chemical change in October, so this provided a nice review and also hit on a proficiency objective. Students also shared frustrations about not being able to get to all of the stations and inferred and connected thoughtfully how this is the result of spinner design based on the natural world. Student comments: "I learned what percolation is." "Water molecules are constantly in motion." "I wanted to get to the animals." "I didn't like going to the same place over and over again." "Molecules have to split up to form clouds." "It was weird that we go to clouds the most." "The water will go on forever." "Some droplets stay at places for a long time." "It was fun." "I want to play again." Melissa Breuer
I chose this inquiry because I had already built a model of the water cycle at the beginning of the school year, so we could grow plants that the students had conducted another inquiry on. Since I knew the students were familiar with the process already, and it matched my objectives, and it was fun, I decided to give this lesson a try. I liked that this inquiry was based on building a model. Even though I built the models for my students, they had their own in a group and could manipulate it. They labeled it and explained it--I just gave them the materials. I changed several things in this inquiry mostly to save time and frustration. First, I did not have my students cut the bottles, this was all ready for them. All they had to do was label. I also put the words on the labels for them before I gave them the student page. I changed the game some too. We discussed the different places rain water could go to cover all the spinners. I decided to group the different bodies of water (lake, ocean, river, etc.) as one group and called it "Body of Water." This way there were fewer stations and it was a little less overwhelming. I did have to change any spinner affected to say body of water and also created a new spinner for body of water. I also created a new Thinksheet for students to complete as they cycled the Earth and clouds as water droplets. This made the group easier to manage and they could have fun cycling the room. During the game I also had a teacher manning the station to help students record their place and take turns. The game was really fun and the kids got a lot out of it. They could tell me different places rain fell and understood why clouds are different sizes. They worked well together too, which is always a great experience. I used several ideas from The Mailbox to incorporate different assessments as well as a water cycle song. We read Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain and The Great Kapok Tree to tie in literature. After reading The Great Kapok Tree we learned more about the rain forest and listened to a rainforest CD while creating pictures of the rain forest. I think this was a great inquiry and easy to modify for my grade level and objectives. The students did a great job with the group activities and loved creating their own models. Mary Snellgrove
John Farmer I think this is the best of the Science for Ohio online lessons that I've done (and they're all good!) I use this with high school seniors who are in a remedial class because they haven't passed the 9th grade science proficiency. The kids really liked making their water cycle bottles. The instructions were very well written. Even in a class with mostly ESL students, I did not have problems. The class I just did the lab with decided they didn't want to plant something as boring as grass, so I whipped out some flower seeds. We'll see how well they'll fit in the small space for growing. The water simulation game is an excellent activity for dispelling the misconception that water just keeps going round and round in a perfect circle through the water cycle. I followed this unit up with the SEPUP unit on groundwater contamination in Fruitvale. It was a perfect match. Sandee Coats-Haan I have struggled over past years to come up with an interesting way to review the concepts addressed in this unit. So often I ended up with the kids acting out the water cycle in a skit or drawing the inevitable poster of "The Life of Rodney Raindrop." (I even had a student teacher one year who wanted the kids to sit and watch a sponge dry for 45 minutes.) The kids loved the activities we did. The bottle systems have a definite "coolness" factor to them, and were certainly worth the time we invested in them. The 6th graders knew without asking where to place the labels. I also enjoyed asking each group whether I should add the "fertilizer" to their systems... Those who have known me from previous years were quite suspicious of my offer, and several groups turned me down flat. They were very proud of themselves when the green/blue coloring leaked down into the drinking water supply for the other groups. We did have an interesting result--some of the well water had a pronounced yellow tinge without food coloring. That led to a discussion of dissolved minerals like iron in the soil getting into drinking water as well. The game was effective in demonstrating how water molecules can stay forever in the ocean or glaciers. There were several sighing kids who felt stuck in the ocean and probably felt I had singled them out for such treatment. I have special needs students mainstreamed in my classes, and the activities were especially effective with them. Sheryl Melvin Why did I choose this inquiry?
What did I like about this
inquiry? What would you change about
this inquiry? Constructing Water Columns
Internet Use Water Cycle Game Resources to Connect This
Activity To A Unit of Instruction Proficiency Assessment My students didn't seem to have any trouble with the assessment. Again, as a teacher, I would like to have had the answers to make sure I was on target in teaching the concepts. Comments This was by far my favorite lesson. It enabled me to incorporate many of my course of study objectives, and the students had so much fun with it. They were able to manipulate the water columns many many times to get a true understanding of the water cycle. Polluting the water cycles was extremely effective in enabling the students to see how pollution is done every day and how it affects their lives on a daily basis. The water cycle game made them understand that the water cycle does not happen in a true circle. Karen Vome Recently my students completed the water cycle unit. From watching the enthusiasm that all the kids demonstrated when completing the activities, I know that they enjoyed every part of the unit. In the past I have struggled to come up with activities that would allow the students to "see" the different parts of the water cycle occurring. At first my students were confused why I needed them to bring in so many empty two liter bottles. They thoroughly enjoyed building the water cycle models. In fact many of the students asked me if they could add different things to their models to see what would happen. Right now, the models are still sitting near my windows. Students still routinely look at the models to see what is going on, even though our water cycle unit is completed. Later on this school year I plan to let the students use their ideas about adding to their models so they can experiment on things that might affect their tiny water cycles. My students also enjoyed the How Does Water Cycle on Earth activity where they were allowed to wonder around the room through different parts of the water cycle. I feel that it is always good to give students a chance to get up and do a physical activity in class rather than having them just sit at their desks. I did make one modification to the unit. The language arts teacher I team with was teaching the students how to write a friendly letter at the time we were completing the water cycle unit. To reinforce friendly letter writing, the students had to write a letter to Mr. and Mrs. Bubbles explaining their adventure through the water cycle when they played the How Does Water Cycle on Earth game. The letters were creative and very funny. I will certainly use these activities in the future and I recommend them to anyone who teaches the water cycle. Matt Spangler I chose this inquiry because it fit nicely into my curriculum. Also I experienced it during the summer workshop and felt comfortable using it. It was a great way to let the students see and experience transpiration and condensation. I liked a lot of things about this inquiry. The students were actively engaged and excited about science. The experience put a new twist on a topic that they have already been introduced to in the past. It had many ways for the students to experience the water cycle, the model, the game etc. The next time that I do this inquiry I will probably not spend as much time doing all of the activities just because I teach sixth grade and it begins to become redundant with them. They have already learned the main concepts of the water cycle in past years, I would like to give them a review and new experiences to help them make the connection but I do not feel that for my students all of the material was necessary. I tied this in with my unit on the earth cycles and it also led nicely into recycling and conservation. The final part of the model activity when the pollution entered the ecosystem was a great chance to talk about pollution. I also used the River Wild book suggested. The kids loved it. JoAndrea Crawford I chose this inquiry because my students needed to know about the cycles that occur in nature, in particular, the water cycle. The water cycle was the most interesting to learn about simply because there were many hands-on activities involved. These hands-on activities could also reinforce learning and students could apply these learning activities to everyday life. There were many resources available on the internet outside of what was provided for me. The part of the lesson I enjoyed to most was constructing the water cycle models. The reason was because the students could actually see the processes of the water cycle instead of just reading about it. My students were engaged in each lesson and they were excited about learning something new. Everyday my students came to class and observed the processes taking place on the models. They were excited to see the grass sprouting in the models also. They could explain in their own words what processes were taking place and give a description of how each process looked. This water cycle lesson was very extensive and educational. The students were able to learn more about how water is recycled on the Earth and why this is so important. Also, the importance of keeping water clean by not polluting it. I utilized resources from the internet. I was able to find other water cycle models to demonstrate to my students. Overall, this was a great lesson and a wonderful learning experience for my students. Gena Bosley How Does Water Cycle On The Earth?--To introduce this lesson I had every eighth grade student stand up and I had laminated the words which go to the tune of She'll Be Comin' Around The Mountain (see Related Resources for this inquiry). At first, students looked me up one side and down the other like I was nuts. Weeks went by and I would have students ask me if we could sing the Water Cycle Song today. Teachers you probably think eighth graders are to old for this, but they are still young and love to do these kinds of things. I believe it's all in the way you present the activity to your students and if the teacher joins in and has just as much fun as the students your students will follow. As adults we enjoy singing and having fun, why can't learning be as much fun. I always tell my self that I know my students won't forget me or the things that I taught them because it was different and FUN! After students learned the Water Cycle Song, the students were shown a graphic organizer fold called Water Travels in a Cycle, Yes, It does, Yes, It does! Students defined in complete sentences Evaporation, Condensation, Transpiration and Precipitation. The cover flip had to have a molecule drawn on the front and explained. Two pictures needed to be included on each flip and explained. Explain the source of energy in the water cycle. Each flip must have six facts with written descriptions on each fact. Color must be used and a creative title. These folds turned out really neat looking and students were able to use them as a great study guide tool. This graphic organizer gave me the opportunity to tie in many different skills as well as teaching the water cycle to my students. Some skills I brought into this project were writing complete sentences using science facts, this is a huge part of the new OGT test, extended response questions, define vocabulary words and then use pictures or words to explain the vocabulary words. How many times do we give vocabulary words and expect our students to memorize the meanings, but the student has no idea how what the word really means and how to use that word? This was a neat project. The Water Cycle and Fertilizer-- I used this portion of the inquiry lesson at the very end of the unit. My students still had a hard time trying to answer the questions. They understood the water cycle, but they didn't see the association with the fertilizer used on the plants to the water cycle.. I had to discuss with each class the steps involved when we use fertilizer and how it affects the water cycle. Shelley Nooe I chose to do this
inquiry to go along with a unit we were doing on climate. Our book discusses
the water cycle in a very limited way. Although my students studied
the topic last year, I thought the water cycle models were a great addition
to this particular unit. I love the building of the models. It appealed
to many of the students who don't usually get too excited about science.
I also liked that we were reusing 2-liter bottles, which reinforced
the recycling unit we just finished. I know that this is something the
students won't soon forget. I loved the models, the game, all of it!
We had a great time! Julie Frampton I chose this inquiry because my students were having trouble making the connection of the water cycle and how it works. The students have the water cycle in depth in the third grade, but this concept is on the proficiency. I didn't want to repeat anything that was done in the previous year so I decided to give Science for Ohio's Water Cycle a chance. I think that the thing I liked the most was giving the students control of their learning. I placed the students in their groups and gave them the materials and had them figure out as a group how to interpret the directions. The students did a wonderful job at deciphering the directions and constructing the water cycle models. There were a few groups who has problems working together, but I just stepped back and let them solve their own problems. Eventually they solved all their problems and decided they had to work as a group in order to make the water cycle model. I really enjoyed watching them and listening to their conversations. They were actually learning from one another and didn't realize it. My favorite part besides constructing the models was the part that involved the pollution and placing the food coloring into their models. You should have heard their comments and how dare me not tell them that my fertilizing chemical would run into the ground and affect other things. I had to step back and laugh at them.-of course I encouraged them to talk to me about the problem I caused and how we could fix the problem and maybe keep the problem from ever happening. This was great!!! They were making the connection!! I utilized all the resources in this activity. The game was really hard for them to understand at first. This game was difficult for fourth graders-not to play but to try to think outside the box for a few minutes. Stepping back to see the small pieces and put it together into a big picture. Once we discuss this as group they totally understood. The web sites were great and the students really enjoyed exploring the Internet. The books were also very good--I particularly enjoyed the book A River Ran Wild by Lynn Cherry. This was a great book to read after the pollution activity. The parent letter was good, but I modified it to have the students bring in the supplies needed. This worked out well for the students-this made them responsible as a group to make sure all their supplies were available for the activity. I only had one group not bring in the right things. I will have to say that this activity was a success for my students. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to expand my students minds. Pam Wilson I love the teacher
direction pages. They are very beneficial and break down the steps,
helping with classroom management. This water cycle column is more classroom
friendly than the one in Bottle Biology because of the closed top. I
love this site! Thanks!!! Julie Veneman We chose this inquiry because it coincided with a lesson on the Earth's fresh water and the oceans that were currently being taught in science. This did a fine job of linking the water cycle with the placement of the water on the Earth. This inquiry was a perfect chance to show the water cycle in action. The students built their models and then could watch the water perform its miracle of fluid motion. Observing the rain and condensation helped the students to better follow the logical progression of evaporation through the cycle. The students liked the water cycle game because it showed lag times and the way a water molecule travels in a more realistic time frame. As a water molecule the students did not travel in the "normal" cycle as demonstrated in most textbook illustrations, from a body of water to evaporation to condensation etc. This lesson helped to correct a misconception of how and where water travels. We would change some of the building procedures in order to save time in the classroom. The students had some difficulty with cutting the plastic bottles and assembling the parts together in the allotted time. Our previous experience with Mr. Farmer helped us to modify the freezing portion of the lesson. We took the two liter bottles of water, inverted them and froze them overnight. This was much simpler. Practice makes perfect. Paul Strotman and
Shiloh Richards My students have a thorough understanding of the many processes of the water cycle as a result of this activity. I especially found the literature connection to A River Ran Wild valuable. Moy Sture--Teacher I chose this activity because our school will be visiting the Cincinnati Museum Center in April and I wanted to tie in the water cycle with the museum's programs on the weather, ecology, and water forces. My favorite part of this activity is the water cycle model. I had pairs of students work together to make models. They were able to actually see each process in the cycle. The students were very amazed when the water cycle was "polluted". My students had difficulty with the game and the assessment. My class is too small to be able to move throughout the various stations of the game. My class only has 8 students and when anyone was missing, it made the game very difficult to play. With the proficiency assessment, the students had difficulty writing explanations. I wanted to see what they could do with the assessment. Their limited vocabulary and writing skills make completing the assessment difficult. They would be more successful if they could explain the cycle orally or draw pictures. I used this activity to lead into units on ecology, water forces, and the weather. I am using the programs provided by the Cincinnati Museum Center and expanding the activities to prepare my students for the field trip. My students really liked the book, Water Dance. They enjoyed the story and we made a game of guessing what would happen next in the story. Sherie Davis Since there are 10 rows to complete on the Data Sheet in the interactive activity Where Does the Water Go? I had my students calculate what percent of the time they spent in each location. It made for a great math connection to the percents unit they had just completed. S. Leet--Teacher I chose this activity because I had already created my own water cycle column over the summer. We used it way back at the beginning of the year when we talked about weather. But we only discussed evaporation, condensation, and precipitation. So now that it is closer to the end of the year, I wanted to do some reviewing and extending of as many previous concepts as possible. I didn't do all the activities. One activity we did was groups of students created their own water columns. We had to combine because not everyone brought enough bottles by the time we made them. We did all of the construction, even the planting of the grass seed, in one day. When we returned from spring break, the grass had sprouted in all columns. We left water sitting in the top bottle. Over night the room cooled down so that I didn't even have to put ice water in the top bottle to show all the parts of the water cycle. There was condensation with running droplets happening in the center bottle. The students labeled the six processes of the water cycle in groups. The last part of The Water Cycle Inquiry that I did with my class was to play the game. The students had fun and tried hard, but they weren't quite ready. They especially didn't understand percolation, collection, and transpiration as it applies to the game. Now that I have played it once with them, I understand better how to help them understand appropriate responses for their Data Sheet. Since the hard part is to prepare all the materials, and that has been done, we will play again once or twice before the end of the year. I like that the students have a water column they can call their own. Heaven forbid I ask them to label a bottle that isn't theirs. I like that the students can role play water molecules. We had done the bag on a leaf activity to show transpiration back in the fall. I plan on doing the pollution (using food coloring) lesson this coming week. Jill Coleman I chose this inquiry to start with because it is a big part of the third grade curriculum and is always on the off-grade proficiency test. I liked this inquiry very much and my students seemed to as well. The lessons made sense and were relevant to the material I needed to cover. I modified it in several ways. Here is a day-by-day account. January 7: Because of our 3rd grade off-grade proficiency test, I had to prepare the model ahead of time. Although, I would still cut and drill materials for the students, I would prefer to assemble project in groups in class. Instead, I already had the grass growing and ready for the ice bottle. The lesson went well, but I feel that the students would have better understood how the model was constructed had they assembled them themselves. We did learn the song, which the students enjoyed very much. January 8: Third graders easily understand the concepts of evaporation, condensation, and precipitation. Runoff is a term we teach them as well. But percolation, transpiration, and collection were very foreign terms. Collection was an easy concept to grasp, because it was so closely tied to runoff. But, percolation and transpiration were beyond age-appropriate. I do feel, however, that my students understand the concept of percolation, though I do not think they would be able to recall the term. When we assembled the model, added ice and added labels, the students were able to hypothesize what effect the ice would have on the model. They have been very interested in observing the changes in the model and will be able to draw accurate conclusions. January 9: We brainstormed places water could be found on Earth. Students did not readily come up with animals and plants. I cannot say that I would have either. They did agree though once we discussed it. We then drew pictures of the places in preparation for the next day's game. I prepared the spinners ahead of time. I felt that the directions for making the spinner were too time consuming and really more difficult than necessary. I simply copied the spinners onto oak tag board and cut them out. I then poked a small hole in the center and inserted a brass brad halfway through. I hooked a paperclip over the brad head for a quick and easy spinner. The oak tag could be laminated for durability. January 10: I did a quick mini-lesson on molecules involving only the water molecule. It was extremely basic and gave them only the information needed to play the game properly. Because of EXTREMELY small class sizes (16 students), I had to play the game the best we could. I paired some students up with little plastic people manipulatives to symbolize their molecule partners. We made 5-6 cycles in the allotted time and paid special notice to the presence or absence of people at each station. The students had a little difficulty remembering to record water as gas then liquid at the cloud station. The students did realize that there was no other spinner that sent them to "GLACIER" besides the cloud spinner. Our class discussion afterward involved reviewing the data recorded on their sheet and which station had the most/least visitors, any repeat visitors, number of rotations as a solid, liquid, or gas, etc. Students grasped the concept that a water molecule can end up anywhere in any form. That was my goal in playing the game and I feel that the students really understood it. I will definitely play the game in future years. I will, however, arrange to have both classes together to play at once so that I have enough players for accurate results. I look forward to the pollution activity. That will really demonstrate an important concept and drive it home well. January 15: This activity did not go as well as I had hoped. By the time I got to add the food coloring, we only had 15 minutes of class left. The coloring did not begin to seep into the groundwater until after class was over. I ended up removing the water wicks. I wish I had not done it, because my colleague's columns did fine with some time. Next time I teach it, I will just be more patient. January 16: The students were quite disgusted by the colored ground water. Up to this point, I had not revealed to them that it was just food coloring. I had them complete a questionnaire before and after the activity. It is attached to the email also. I was interested to read the students' responses to the question, "If you had known the effects of the fertilizer before adding it to the water, would you have made the same decision? Explain." Some students maintained that they were more interested in a pretty green lawn than in not polluting the water. I questioned them about this and they were truthful in their responses. January 17: Set up transpiration observation. Discussed the concept. Shortened day. January 18: Did not work at all. Don't know what I did wrong. ** LOTS OF SNOW DAYS AND INTERRUPTIONS!!** January 30: Reviewed all concepts. January 31: Gave the Proficiency Assessment and was VERY pleased with their performance. I mean, of course, there were some who did not make any sense and had been daydreaming most of the year anyway, but the responses were overall really great. I was excited to see how many could recall percolation and transpiration! I feel like this was a real success. I also assigned the Higher Level Thinking Assessment projects, but they are not due until February 28. I connected our science text book and some videos to the unit. I also read some trade books to the students and discussed the importance of the water cycle. We are now discussing weather and the water cycle's effects on that. Our computer teacher also allowed a couple of class periods for the students to explore the web connections. The students really enjoyed this and expressed their excitement for seeing what they were learning on the Internet. I think I will incorporate more of the primary modifications to start with next time. I will also put more preparation into the spinner game. I really think the students learned more from that than anything else we did. That showed them that a water droplet can end up anywhere just by going through the water cycle and that water is everywhere. Tara Lawson Thanks for the feedback and the data sheet idea for the How Can Pollution Get into the Water Cycle? activity. I have added your data sheet to the inquiry for the benefit of others. John Farmer |
Thank
you for your valuable feedback, Mary. I have implemented your suggestions
and modifications in the lesson for the benefit of other primary teachers.
The Primary icon shown appears throughout the inquiry to denote special
information for primary teachers. 