Day2:WhereDoesWaterComeFrom?

Name:DenisseUrbalejo
TitleofLesson:Wheredoeswatercomefrom?
Grade:4th
STANDARDS
S6.C3.PO1:Identifythesourcesofwaterwithintheenvironment(e.g.groundwater,surfacewater,atmospheric
water).
S1.C4.PO2:Chooseandappropriategraphicrepresentationforcollecteddata.
LESSONSUMMARY/OVERVIEW
Thislessonprovidesstudentstheopportunitytolearnaboutthewatercyclesystem.Throughthislessonstudents
willlearnwhereourwatercomesfrom,andthedifferentstagesofwater.Thislessonwillbeginwithaquestion
followedbyatimedstudentdiscussion.Thediscussionwillleadintoashortteacherpresentationthatwilllateraid
studentsduringtheirindependentwork.
OBJECTIVES
Studentswillbeabletonameanddescribethestagesofthewatercycle.
Studentswillbeabletoidentifytheprocesseswithinthewatercyclesystembycreatingaclearlylabeledwater
cyclewheelanddescribingitsfunctioninacompleteparagraph.
ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION
Studentswillcompleteawatercyclewheelthatwillincludethe4stagesofthewatercycle(precipitation,
evaporation,condensation,transpiration).Eachgraphicmanipulativemustbeproperlylabeledandmustbe
accompaniedbya57sentenceparagraphthatdescribeswhateachstageis,andtheorderinwhichtheyoccur,along
withtheimportanceofeachpartforthesystemasawhole.
PREREQUISITEKNOWLEDGE
Priortothislessonstudentsneedtoknowthevariousformsofwater(solid,liquid,gas).Studentswillbereminded
ofthethreestagesofwaterbyrecitingthemasaclass.Studentsmayalsoneedtoberemindedofproperparagraph
fromwhichincludesindentation,topicsentence,supportingdetails,andconcludingsentence.Studentswillrecall
properparagraphstructurebyorallylistingthefourmainparagraphcomponents.
MATERIALS
WaterCyclePowerPoint
Sciencenotebook
Pencil
WaterCycleWheelhandout
Brassfastener
Scissors
Crayons
WordSearch
VOCABULARY/KEYWORDS
WaterCycle:thechangestowaterwhenitevaporatesintotheair,condensesintotheclouds,andthenevaporates
towardsearth
Atmosphere:thelayerofgasthatsurroundstheearth(air)
Precipitation:whenwaterdropletsfallfromtheatmosphereintheformofrain,sleet,snow,orhail
Evaporation:theprocessthatoccurswhenwaterchangesformaliquidtoagas
Condensation:thecoolingofwaterintheatmospherethatchangesagasintoaliquid
Transpiration:theevaporationofwaterformplants
Runoff:rainfallthatisnotabsorbedbysoilandtravelstotheocean
TEACHINGPROCEDURES

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Showaphotoofthewatercycleontheprojector,askstudentsiftheycanidentifywhatitis.
Givestudents12minutestoviewtheimageanddiscusstheirthoughtswiththeirshoulderpartner.
Bringtheclasstogetherandhavestudentssharetheiranswers.Validatetheanswersofstudentsandthen
explainthattheimagerepresentsthewatercycle.
Usetheknowledgestudentslearnedthedaybeforeandhavethemrecalltheimportanceofwater.
Explainthatthewatercycleishownatureproduceswater.
IntroducetheconceptofSYSTEMSTHINKING.Tellstudentsthatsystemsaremanypartsjoinedtogether
toachieveapurposeoraplan.
Tellstudentsthatsystemscanconsistofanything.Provideexamplessuchasthefoodchainwater
conservation(aspreviouslydiscussedinday1)schoolsystems,andtellstudentsthattheythemselvesare
partofasystemintheirhome/communities.
StichtheprojectorscreentotheWaterCyclePowerPoint.Explaintostudentsthatthepurposeofthewater
cycleistoprovidewaterforourenvironment,andthattodaytheywillbelearninghowthewatercycle
systemworks.
TalkthroughthePowerPointstoppingateachslidetodiscusshoweachpartofthewatercyclecontributes
totheentiresystemasawhole.
Asyoutalkthroughtheslidesprovidereallifeexamplesofeachwatercyclecomponent.
OncethePowerPointhasconcluded,gothroughaquickreviewtocheckforstudentunderstanding.
Addressanyremainingmisconceptionsandquestionsduringthistime.
Oncedirectinstructionhasconcluded,begintogivedirectionsforthewatercyclewheelhandout.
Handouttheworksheetsalongwithscissors,crayons,andabrassfastener.
Givestudents1520minutestocompletetheirgraphicrepresentationofthewatercycle.
Walkaroundtheclassroomprovidingoneononeassistancetostudentswhoareinneedofhelp.Ensure
thatallstudentsareengagedandontask.
Oncestudentshavecompletedtheirmanipulative,showthemhowitcanbeusedtohelpthemcompletethe
finalpartoftheassignment.
Instructstudentstousetheirwatercyclewheeltowriteaparagraphdescribinghowthewatersystem
works,andwhyeachpartofthesystemisimportantforthecycleasawhole.
Remindstudentsofthemeaningofsystemsthinkingandallowthemtoworkontheirparagraph
independently.
Assomestudentsbegintofinishearly,providethemwithawatercyclewordsearchtokeepthemfrom
distractingotherwhoarestillworking.

RESOURCES
WaterCyclePowerPointPresentation
OfficeforCoastalManagement(2009).TheWaterCycle.OceanandAtmosphericAdministration.November7,
2015.
WaterCycleWheelCraftActivity
IllinoisEnvironmentalProtectionAgency(2011).WaterCycleWheel.Retrievedfrom
http://www.epa.state.il.us/kids/funstuff/watercycle/wheelpart1.htmlNovember7,2015.
WaterCycleWordSearchPuzzle
Marcia.ClassroomFreebies(2011).WaterCycleWordSearchPuzzle.Retrievedfrom
http://www.classroomfreebies.com/2013/01/sciencefreebiewatercyclepuzzle.htmlNovember7,2015.
WAYSOFTHINKINGCONNECTION
Throughsystemsthinking,studentswillbeabletoseehowthewatercyclehasmanyinterconnectedcomponents
thatworktogethertoprovidewaterforourenvironment.Usingtheirwatercyclemanipulativestudentswillseethe
systeminaction.Astheyseehowthewatersystemworks,andstudentslearntherolesofeachstageinthewater
cycletheywillbegintorealizethatsystemsareallaroundthem.Studentswillbegintomakeconnectionstothe
systemsthatexistaroundthem.Thiswillcreateasenseofawarenesswithinstudentsallowingthemtorecognizethe

importanceofsystemsthinkingforourenvironmentandeverydaylives.Theconceptofsystemsthinkingwillbe
furtherdiscussedindays4and5.