Science - Year 4

State of Matter – Block 4SM

States of Matter Scientists

Session 5

Resource Pack

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The Water Cycle Song

Water travels in a cycle, yes it does.

Water travels in a cycle, yes it does.

It goes up as evaporation,

Forms clouds as condensation,

Then falls down as precipitation, yes it does.

Water travels in a cycle, yes it does.

Water travels in a cycle, yes it does.

It goes up as evaporation,

Forms clouds as condensation,

Then falls down as precipitation, yes it does.

Water travels in a cycle, yes it does.

Water travels in a cycle, yes it does.

It goes up as evaporation,

Forms clouds as condensation,

Then falls down as precipitation, yes it does.

Can you make it rain indoors?

What you need:

• Ice cubes • Wide glass jam-jar • Plate • Very hot tap water

Method:

1. Put the ice cubes on the plate. 2. Pour around 3 centimetres of very hot water into the glass jar. 3. Place the plate and ice cubes on top of the jar. 4. Watch what happens!

Can you see droplets forming on the bottom of the plate? If you tap the plate they will fall down like rain!

What's happening?

As hot air hits the bottom of the cold plate, water vapour in the air condenses. The water vapour forms water droplets on the bottom of the plate. The water droplets drip down like rain.

The same thing happens in the atmosphere. Warm, moist air rises. The rising warm air meets colder air high in the atmosphere. The water vapour in the warm air condenses and forms water droplets. The water droplets fall to Earth as rain.

Discussion Drawing notes

This shows water vapour is present in air, though we cannot see it. At low temperatures the water vapour condenses to droplets of liquid. Take a cold glass out of a freezer to show that water is not needed in the glass to cause the condensation and to prove that the water is not leaking from the glass! Other good examples of this phenomenon are the dew on grass that appears overnight when the temperature is lower and the water that collects on the inside of windows in a warm room on a cold day.

Focus: I understand that water is constantly travelling in a cycle and I can identify the part that evaporation and condensation play in it.

Draw the Water Cycle and use the following words to label it; evaporation, precipitation, condensation, transpiration.