The Water Cycle

To Educators:

As our students begin to learn about the world they live in they will learn many different cycles of life, plants, and in this book, water! Understanding the environment through these cycles will be information children retain for their whole lives! In this unit, students will study the different phases of the water cycle and be able to identify each one and chose correctly from examples. These phases include: condensation, precipitation, transpiration, evaporation, and review on the key terms of rain, hail, snow, sun, and rivers. This cycle is key in our science curriculum and students will apply this knowledge in many things they do.

Includes: Learning objectives, review videos, discussion questions, review, and homework activity.

Learning Objectives

After this lesson students will be able to:

• Define and understand each phase of the water cycle and undergoes during that phase.

• Be able to correctly identify a phase based on an example.

• Be able to go through the water cycle in the correct order naming each phase.

What is Condensation?

What is Precipitation?

What is Transpiration?

What is Evaporation?

Review of things you already know!

Rain: Water falling from the sky. Rain is liquid precipitation.

Hail: Small frozen balls that fall from the sky. This is also precipitation.

Snow: Small white crystals that fall from the sky when it is cold. This is also precipitation.

Sun: The star around which the earth moves and that provides light and heat for the earth

Rivers: A river is a body of water that flows downhill from the force of gravity.

Discussion:

Name which ever phases of the water cycle you think these actions occur in.

Example: Which phase does liquid water fall from clouds?

Answer: Precipitation. 

1. In which phases does the water vapor change to liquid water?

2. In which phase do plants absorb liquid water from soil?

3. Which phases changes liquid water to gas?

Fun Activity/Home activity

This activity does not take a lot of work, but after you will be able to visualize the water cycle!

• Take a ziplock baggie and label the water cycle on it with sharpie or marker.
• Fill the baggie with a bit of water.
• Tape in up on a window and be able to see the condensation and evaporation in/on the baggie!