The Water Cycle

Summary
The plan for teaching this lesson in a hands on way for the most part. For the water cycle it is a bit
difficult because it is hard to physically touch some parts of the water cycle. the plan is on having the
students make their own water terrariums out of water bottles. This also helps the information stick
better so that they may have an easier time recalling the information for future assignments, tests,
and other applications.

Main Core Tie

Science - 4th Grade
Standard 1

Time Frame
3 class periods of 30 minutes each

Group Size
Small Groups

Life Skills
Thinking & Reasoning, Communication, Systems Thinking

Materials
Water Bottles pre-cut open.
Moss
Small cups to hold water
Pebbles
Soil
Books that relate to the water cycle. These can be some picture books, chapter books, and text
books.
Poster boards, markers, tape, scissors
Signs reading Evaporation, Condensation, and precipitation.
Box of cotton balls, blue shiny paper, large blue glitter, and small blue glitter
Projector hooked up to the teacher’s computer.

Background for Teachers

Teacher Preparation:
Bring Books some from personal collection and some from school library.
Gather Supplies for the poster board inside the boxes.
Prepare a PowerPoint for the students and have a small video ready to go when needed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77ENELQUIf4 (5 min)
Write times down where you want to start and stop the video
Label three cards, Living, Nonliving, and Once-living

Student Prior Knowledge

Students should come to class with their previous knowledge and self-learned knowledge of what
they think happens to the water during the water cycle. It also helps if they were taught about different
animal habitats and climates the year prior.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Use the scientific process and thinking skills
Define the different stages in the Water Cycle.
Note differences between the different stages of water and what stage of the cycle
they are in.
Use a scientific attitude and interests
Keeping an open mind between what you learn and what you may think you already
know.
Use your evidence to support your facts.
Understand the science concepts and principals
Know the information given for the subject you are learning.
Compare what you learned and what you thought.
Use scientific language correctly and reason like one to
Make sure your data in relevant
When talking or writing use the scientific language that was taught.
The project is good for the 4 th grade because, the year before they were taught about
different Climates and Habitats for animals. Now they can learn how the water cycle
happens and how it can affect those environments. As well as a deeper depth in
understanding it. (The project allows an on hand approach) When they reach 5 th grade they
learn about weathering and erosion which the water cycle plays a big part in. Knowing the
information ahead of time will help the students activate their background knowledge and
have and understanding on how.

Instructional Procedures
Classroom Set Up:
The desks will be arranged in groups of 4, 5, or 6 depending on how many students are in the
classroom.
Clear desks of all pencils and paper.
Boxes with supplies and poster boards on a table all ready to pass out.
(Also see background for Teachers)
Lesson Description:
For this lesson there will be two parts for the students. One is where we will create a poster board
showing the water cycle in their tables. The second part of the lesson we will create a water cycle
terrarium where we can see some of the process (this we can observe over the week as we continue
talking about water and weather).

First: Poster Creations (This is more of an overview, I will be focusing on the second part of the
lesson.)
Before they start the posters the students will watch a small video on the water cycle (5min).
After that the class will talk about the stages of the cycle and how it all fits together. The teacher
will also teach them a song to help them remember all the different stages. The stages will then
be written on the board for the students to use for spelling on their posters.
Students will then talk about where have seen examples for the water cycle. Like the clouds in
the sky, condensation on cups and plants (here they will learn about dew on plants and how it is
a form of condensation), and rain. 3 min
The teacher will pass out the poster boards and give the students their instructions. 2 min
No throwing any of the supplies around the room.
 Make sure everyone is helping in creating the poster.
Use an appropriate amount of glue.
They have must include all the stages of the water cycle with a illustration. And arrows to
show how water moves through the water cycle.
Once they are sorted the teacher will pass out a poster for each group. On these posters the
students will give a physical showing of the water cycle 15 min. The posters will be displayed on
the walls.
Once everyone has cleaned their desks and work space the teacher will teach them a dance to
help the students remember the cycle and actions for it. This helps solidify the stages. 5 min

Second: Create a Water Cycle Terrarium

The teacher will show a video of Bill Nye the Science Guy. This will help remind the students
what they talked about and learned in the last lesson (above).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nr5nOrzbC-Y (20 min)
The teacher will give the instructions for the project. 3 min
1. Only one bottle per group.
2. The teacher will have the other supplies.
3. Make sure there is equal participation.
Teacher will pass out the bottles. The class will do this in groups of two. Depending on how the
students have been they will either be assigned or choose their partner. 2 min
Create the terrarium. These will show how the water evaporates, condensates on the side of the
bottle and the moss at the bottom, and return back to the ground. 15 min
After this the students will talk about what they think they will see in their terrariums and where is
the best place to leave them. What will happen if you leave one in the sun and one in the
shade?
Students will write in their journal what they learned and any questions that they may have.

Strategies for Diverse Learners

Adaptations for Gifted/Talented, ELL and Special Education:
Gifted and Talented Students:
For the students that are ahead of the others the teacher will provide harder definition of the
cycle and the phases that they students can match up. Those that are farther ahead will also be
helping those that have fallen behind. This will make it so that the student will have to show their
understanding and explain to others in ways that they are able to understand. Also being able to
verbally help someone will help the information stick better. Especially if they are assigned to help a
student who struggles with English.
If they finish early then they will be given access to the classroom computers for online
activities. These will give the students more options and varying levels to work with.

ELL:
The teacher will make sure that they are partnered with someone who understands the lesson
and are ahead in the class. This will help them to have someone there they can receive help from.
As the teacher is walking around they will be able to assist when needed.
When we are having a classroom discussion the teacher will provide definitions and words that
are important and with the written def. about living and nonliving is displayed with pictures to help so
they can refer to those. With something physical to look at it can help them participate and help them
continue expanding their English vocabulary. These references can be kept in their journals in one
place where they can easily add to for other lessons and refer to when needed.
Special Education:
These students will receive pictures to accompany the descriptions while others will have the
descriptions. They will be able to use easier language when writing in their journal. If there is enough
people that can that can help they will be provided a partner. If writing is an obstacle, then they will
be able to use a computer for their responses.

Extensions
Students will be sent home with a list of materials. They will also have the option to interact with their
parents, on websites that have information and activities on the water cycle:
https://www.natgeokids.com/uk/discover/science/nature/water-cycle/
https://thewaterproject.org/resources/the_water_cycle

Assessment Plan
Students will be assessed using the following:
If the posters correctly show the water cycle.
If they participate in the class discussions.
Students terrariums that they created.
Their journal entry’s.

I think that the written response will help the students because they will need to explain parts of things
that they have just learned. It will also show if they are getting the vocabulary that was presented.
Here they can display if they use their science thinking process to make the distinctions, if they know
the different stages of water in the cycle. They can also show an attitude of a scientist by showing
they explored this to understand it. Do they understand how everything plays into each other? They
are also able to communicate what they are saying using scientific phrases, like their vocab words.
This ties in the ISO’s talked about earlier.

Bibliography
https://www.natgeokids.com/uk/discover/science/nature/water-cycle/
https://thewaterproject.org/resources/the_water_cycle

Authors
Austin Granger