Teacher Resources: The Water Cycle - Four Winds … Cycle teacher resource page.pdf · Teacher...

2
Teacher Resources: The Water Cycle The Earth’s water is in its oceans, lakes and rivers, in the atmosphere and underground, inside plants and animals and frozen in its glaciers and icecaps. The water present today is the same water that has been here for millions of years, though it is constantly in motion, moving from place to place. Water evaporates into vapor, condenses into clouds, precipitates as rain or snow and transpires through plants, as it moves between atmosphere and land, over and over again in a cycle that is powered by the sun. NATURE JOURNALS Have the children think about a watery place they like to visit – a stream, pond, puddle, beach or other. Recall how the place feels – cool, hot, sandy, sunny? What sounds are common there? What smells do they remember? Then write a story or draw a picture of spending time in this special place. Afterwards in small groups, have children share their journal entries. UNIT VOCABULARY Water cycle Precipitation Condensation Evaporation Respiration Transpiration Water vapor Ground water Capillary action Glaciers OUTSIDE YOU GO Want to incorporate more outdoor learning into your school day, but don’t have the time for the transition? Try to meet your kids outside at the start of the day for Morning Meeting, or stay outside as a class after recess for read aloud, silent reading, science, etc. This way, you can make time for an outdoor lesson without all of the prep! FOLLOW UP IDEAS Morning Meeting: To review The Water Cycle unit, you can do this Morning Meeting sign-in activity. On a wall near the white board or flip chart, tape up various steps in a water cycle like: a rain drop falls during a thunder storm, water flows down a river, water evaporates from a lake, etc. On the white board or flip chart, draw a circle with arrows indicating the direction of the cycle. Ask each student to pick one step from the wall, tape it on the circle on the white board in a location that makes sense and put their initials next to it. Math: Determine rates of evaporation based on different conditions. Ask students to fill 3 plastic cups with approximately equal amounts of water. To measure how much water is in each cup, have them draw a line on the cup at the top edge of the water, and write the measurement there. Ask them to place one cup on a sunny windowsill, one in a shady part of the room and one near a fan. Each day, students can measure the new water depth, and mark it on the outside of the cup. How many days does it take for each cup to lose one inch of water? Compare the rates of evaporation for each cup, and graph results. Language Arts: Use the beautiful book, Water Dance by Thomas Locker so that your students can read and comprehend literature, including poetry. BOOKS FOR KIDS Berger, Melvin, Gilda Berger and Bobbi Tull (Illustrator), Water, Water Everywhere: A Book About the Water Cycle, Ideals Publications, 2001. (Informational; Age 4 and up; Grade K and up) Locker, Thomas, Water Dance, Voyager Books, 2002. (Poetry; Age 4-8; Grade 1 and up) Lyon, George, and Katherine Tillotson (Illustrator), All the Water in the World, Antheneum Books, 2011. (Poetry; Age 4-8; Grade K-3; Lexile 520L) McKinney, Barbara, and Michael Maydak (Illustrator), A Drop Around the World, Dawn Publications, 1998. (Fiction; Age 5 and up; Grade K and up; Lexile 820L) Relf, Patricia, and Carolyn Bracken (Illustrator),The Magic School Bus Wet All Over: A Book About the Water Cycle, Scholastic Press, 1996. (Fiction; Age 4-8; Lexile 350L) Waldman, Neil, The Snowflake: A Water Cycle Story, Millbrook Press, 2003. (Fiction; Age 5 and up; Grade K and up) White, Dianne and Beth Krommes (Illustrator), Blue on Blue, Beach Lane Books, 2014. (Age 5-8; Grade K-3) http://water.usgs.gov/edu/watercycle-kids-adv.html 02/15

Transcript of Teacher Resources: The Water Cycle - Four Winds … Cycle teacher resource page.pdf · Teacher...

Page 1: Teacher Resources: The Water Cycle - Four Winds … Cycle teacher resource page.pdf · Teacher Resources: The Water Cycle ... This way, you can make ... Nearly all of Earth’s available

!

Teacher Resources: The Water Cycle The Earth’s water is in its oceans, lakes and rivers, in the atmosphere and underground, inside plants and animals and frozen in its glaciers and icecaps. The water present today is the same water that has been here for millions of years, though it is constantly in motion, moving from place to place. Water evaporates into vapor, condenses into clouds, precipitates as rain or snow and transpires through plants, as it moves between atmosphere and land, over and over again in a cycle that is powered by the sun. !

NATURE JOURNALS Have the children think about a watery place they like to visit – a stream, pond, puddle, beach or other. Recall how the place feels – cool, hot, sandy, sunny? What sounds are common there? What smells do they remember? Then write a story or draw a picture of spending time in this special place. Afterwards in small groups, have children share their journal entries.

UNIT VOCABULARY Water cycle Precipitation Condensation Evaporation Respiration Transpiration Water vapor Ground water Capillary action Glaciers

!

OUTSIDE YOU GO Want to incorporate more outdoor learning into your school day, but don’t have the time for the transition? Try to meet your kids outside at the start of the day for Morning Meeting, or stay outside as a class after recess for read aloud, silent reading, science, etc. This way, you can make time for an outdoor lesson without all of the prep!

FOLLOW UP IDEAS Morning Meeting: To review The Water Cycle unit, you can do this Morning Meeting sign-in activity. On a wall near the white board or flip chart, tape up various steps in a water cycle like: a rain drop falls during a thunder storm, water flows down a river, water evaporates from a lake, etc. On the white board or flip chart, draw a circle with arrows indicating the direction of the cycle. Ask each student to pick one step from the wall, tape it on the circle on the white board in a location that makes sense and put their initials next to it. Math: Determine rates of evaporation based on different conditions. Ask students to fill 3 plastic cups with approximately equal amounts of water. To measure how much water is in each cup, have them draw a line on the cup at the top edge of the water, and write the measurement there. Ask them to place one cup on a sunny windowsill, one in a shady part of the room and one near a fan. Each day, students can measure the new water depth, and mark it on the outside of the cup. How many days does it take for each cup to lose one inch of water? Compare the rates of evaporation for each cup, and graph results. Language Arts: Use the beautiful book, Water Dance by Thomas Locker so that your students can read and comprehend literature, including poetry. !!

BOOKS FOR KIDS Berger, Melvin, Gilda Berger and Bobbi Tull (Illustrator), Water, Water Everywhere: A Book About the Water

Cycle, Ideals Publications, 2001. (Informational; Age 4 and up; Grade K and up) Locker, Thomas, Water Dance, Voyager Books, 2002. (Poetry; Age 4-8; Grade 1 and up) Lyon, George, and Katherine Tillotson (Illustrator), All the Water in the World, Antheneum Books, 2011.

(Poetry; Age 4-8; Grade K-3; Lexile 520L) McKinney, Barbara, and Michael Maydak (Illustrator), A Drop Around the World, Dawn Publications, 1998.

(Fiction; Age 5 and up; Grade K and up; Lexile 820L) Relf, Patricia, and Carolyn Bracken (Illustrator),The Magic School Bus Wet All Over: A Book About the

Water Cycle, Scholastic Press, 1996. (Fiction; Age 4-8; Lexile 350L) Waldman, Neil, The Snowflake: A Water Cycle Story, Millbrook Press, 2003. (Fiction; Age 5 and up; Grade K and

up) White, Dianne and Beth Krommes (Illustrator), Blue on Blue, Beach Lane Books, 2014. (Age 5-8; Grade K-3) http://water.usgs.gov/edu/watercycle-kids-adv.html !

!! ! ! ! ! ! ! 02/15

Page 2: Teacher Resources: The Water Cycle - Four Winds … Cycle teacher resource page.pdf · Teacher Resources: The Water Cycle ... This way, you can make ... Nearly all of Earth’s available

THE WATER CYCLE ALIGNMENT WITH NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS Grades K-2 • Core Idea PS1A: Different kinds of matter exist and many of them can be either solid or liquid, depending on temperature. p.108 • Core Idea PS1B: Heating or cooling a substance may cause changes that can be observed. Sometimes these changes are reversible (e.g., melting and freezing), and sometimes they are not (e.g., baking a cake, burning

fuel). p.110 • Core Idea PS2B: When objects touch or collide, they push on one another and can change motion or shape. p.117 • Core Idea PS3B: Sunlight warms Earth’s surface. p.125 • Core Idea ESS2C: Water is found in the ocean, rivers, lakes, and ponds. Water exists as solid ice and in liquid form. It carries soil and rocks from one place to another and determines the variety of life forms that can

live in a particular location. p.184 • Core Idea ESS3C: Things that people do to live comfortably can affect the world around them. But they can make choices that reduce their impacts on the land, water, air, and other living things—for example, by

reducing trash through reuse and recycling. p.195

Grades 3-5 • Core Idea PS1A: Matter of any type can be subdivided into particles that are too small to see, but even then the matter still exists and can be detected by other means. For example a model showing that gases are

made from matter particles that are too small to see and are moving freely around in space can explain many observations, including the inflation and shape of a balloon; the effects of air on larger particles or objects; and the appearance of visible scale water droplets in condensation, fog, and by extension, also in clouds or the contrails of a jet. p.108

• Core Idea PS2B: Objects in contact exert forces on each other (friction, elastic pushes and pulls). Electric, magnetic, and gravitational forces between a pair of objects do not require that the objects be in contact – for example, magnets push or pull at a distance. p.117

• Core Idea ESS2A: Earth’s major systems are the geosphere (solid and molten rock, soil, and sediments), the hydrosphere (water and ice), the atmosphere (air), and the biosphere (living things, including humans). These systems interact in multiple ways to affect Earth’s surface materials and processes. The ocean supports a variety of ecosystems and organisms, shapes landforms, and influences climate. Winds and clouds in the atmosphere interact with the landforms to determine patterns of weather. Rainfall helps shape the land and affects the types of living things found in a region. Human activities affect Earth’s systems and their interactions at its surface. p.181

• Core Idea ESS2C: Water is found almost everywhere on Earth: as vapor; as fog or clouds in the atmosphere; as rain or snow falling from clouds; as ice, snow, and running water on land and in the ocean; and as groundwater beneath the surface. … Nearly all of Earth’s available water is in the ocean. Most fresh water is in glaciers or underground; only a tiny fraction is in streams, lakes, wetlands, and the atmosphere. p.185

• Core Idea ESS3A: All materials, energy, and fuels that humans use are derived from natural sources, and their use affects the environment in multiple ways. Some resources are renewable over time, and others are not. p.192

• Core Idea ESS3C: Human activities in agriculture, industry, and everyday life have had major effects on the land, vegetation, streams, ocean, air, and even outer space. But individuals and communities are doing things to help protect Earth’s resources and environments. p.196

Grades 6-8 • Core Idea PS1A: Gases and liquids are made of molecules or inert atoms that are moving about relative to each other. In a liquid, the molecules are constantly in contact with each other. The changes of state that

occur with variations in temperature or pressure can be described and predicted using these models of matter. (Boundary: Predictions here are qualitative, not quantitative.) p.108-109 • Core Idea ESS2C: Water continually cycles among land, ocean, and atmosphere via transpiration, evaporation, condensation and crystallization, and precipitation as well as downhill flows on land. …Global

movements of water and its changes in form are propelled by sunlight and gravity. p.185 • Core Idea ESS3A: Humans depend on Earth’s land, ocean, atmosphere, and biosphere for many different resources. Minerals, fresh water, and biosphere resources are limited and many are not renewable or

replaceable over human lifetimes. These resources are distributed unevenly around the planet as a result of past geological processes (link to ESS2.B). p.192

Note: The Disciplinary Core Ideas listed above are taken from Grade Band Endpoints in A Framework for K-12 Science Education. Additionally, our activities give children opportunities to engage in many of the Science and Engineering Practices and reflect on the Crosscutting Concepts as identified in the Next Generation Science Standards. !THE WATER CYCLE ALIGNMENT WITH COMMON CORE STANDARDS Grades K-2 • Common Core Writing Standard 3: Write narratives in which they recount a well-elaborated event or short sequence of events, include details to describe actions, thoughts, and feelings, use temporal words to

signal event order, and provide a sense of closure. • Common Core Mathematics Standard K.CC: Count to 100 by ones and tens. Understand the relationship between numbers and quantities; connect counting to cardinality. Count to answer “how many?” questions

about as many as 20 things. Grades 3-5 • Common Core Writing Standard 3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences. Note: The Common Core Standards listed here are in addition to the ones that our activities typically address, as listed in the Four Winds document, The Nature Program: Alignment with Learning Standards.

!!!!02/15!