Lesson 6 - The Water Cycle

For our sixth lesson in our weather unit is about the water cycle. This lesson allows the students to gain knowledge about how water travels in a cycle and the major components of the water cycle such as: evaporation, condensation, and precipitation.

The first part of the lesson that I am going to discuss with the students is where water comes from. Then, the students will go to this YouTube video site: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YswL4dIDQuk. This video shares a song that will help the students remember how the water cycle occurs. After watching the video, I will explain key vocabulary terms that are associated with the water cycle such as evaporation and condensation. I will also give examples of evaporation and condensation.

Next, I will draw a visual representation of how the water cycle occurs. After this, I will explain the experiment that the students will be performing with a partner. The first step to the experiement is that the students must place a tablespoon of salt in the bottom of a plastic bowl. Then, they have to fill the bowl with about one inch of warm water. The students will taste water with their fingers to see if they can taste the salt.

Next, they will place the empty baby food jar in center of water. The students must cover the plastic bowl with plastic wrap and then set the marble on the center of the plastic wrap above the baby food jar. They will place it in a sunny spot for a few hours. Later, the students will check inside their baby food jars. There will be fresh water. They will taste it to see if it tastes salty. The warm water from the bowl evaporated, created condensation when it hit the cool plastic wrap, traveled down the plastic wrap to the center due to the weight of the marble, and dripped into the baby food jar as precipitation.

There will be a lesson extension that the students will have to do when the experiment is finished. My lesson extension is going to consist of me teaching a song to the students about the water cycle. The purpose of this is to help the students remember how the water cycle occurs. The tune I will be using for the song is the tune from the song She’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain. Here is the song: “Water travels in a cycle, yes it does. Water travels in a cycle, yes it does. It goes up as evaporation, the clouds make condensation, it rains down precipitation, yes it does.”

The purpose of this lesson is to make sure the students understand that water travels in a cycle. Also, the lesson helps students remember the major components that consists in the water cycle. I figured that teaching them a catchy song will help the students remember how the water cycle occurs. If you have any questions or comments regarding this lesson, please e-mail, call, or leave a comment.

Miss Bennett