• The student will be able to identify the parts of the water cycle.

Activity

Inform the students that they are to make short journal entries of what happens in each of the following water cycle experiments:

• Part 1: Evaporation

  At the start of the morning session, have one of the students fill a bowl with water and place a lamp above it so that the light (Sun) shines directly on the water. Leave the light on until the afternoon Science class.

  Ask the students:

  1. Is the water level the same as it was this morning? (No)

  2. What happened to the water that was in the bowl? (Disappeared or evaporated)

  3. How is what happened with our experiment similar to what happens to the Water Cycle? (Sun shines on lakes & oceans heating them so that surface water drops rise in the form of water vapour)

  Go to your group and write a short journal entry on evaporation.

• Part 2: Transpiration

  In the morning, water a plant and position it on the window ledge so that it receives much of the Sun's energy. The next day, remove the plant from its pot and observe the dryness of the plant parts.

  Ask the students:

  1. What happened to the water that was in the plant's pot? (Disappeared or evaporated)

  2. How is what happened with our experiment similar to what happens to the Water Cycle? (Plants give off water vapour through transpiration)

  Go to your group and write a short journal entry on transpiration.

• Part 3: Condensation

  Fill an aluminum pan with ice cubes and let it stand on the table for several minutes.

  Ask the students:

  1. What happened inside the pan? ( the ice melted)

  2. What happened to the outside of the pan? (Water drops appeared; it looks as if the pan sweated)

  3. How do you explain the water drops on the outside of the pan? (Warm air meets the cold air)

  4. How is what happened with our experiment similar to what happens to the Water Cycle? (Water vapour in the sky cools to form clouds; dew on the grass in the morning caused by the cold vapour from the cool nights mixing with the warm air in the morning)

  Go to your group and write a short journal entry on condensation.

• Part 4: Precipitation

  Boil water in an electric kettle. Hold a cookie pan, filled with ice, slightly above the boiling water. Position a second pan on the floor below the first.

  As the water boils, steam(water vapour) rises and contacts the cool air on the bottom of the ice-filled pan. Water droplets form on the bottom of the pan (grabbing each other like clouds forming) and when the drops become too heavy, they fall like rain into the second pan on the floor.

  Ask the students:

  1. In our experiment, which item might represent the Sun? (Kettle warming the water)

  2. What would the steam represent in the Water Cycle? (Water vapour)

  3. What is happening when the steam hits the cool pan? (Condensation and clouds forming)

  4. What happens to the water drops on the bottom of the pan? (They fall like rain)

  5. Why didn't the water drops stay on the bottom of the pan? (They became too heavy)

  Go to your group and write a short journal entry on precipitation.

Assessment Tips from Old Tom the Turtle

• Observe the child's reactions to the experiments.

• Assess what each student has written in his journal.