I.

II.

Lesson 2:
A. A. EVAPORATION ACTIVITY
1. 1. Materials (for groups of 2-3 students)
a) small dishes or jar lids (2 per group)
b) tablespoons (1 per group)
c) Water
d) light source (sun or lamp/light) (1 per group)
e) plastic wrap and or lids to cover dishes
B. 2. Discussion questions
1. a. Prior to the activity
a) Where does the water go after it forms puddles on the pavement?
b) Where does the water go from the clothes you put in the dryer?
c) Ask students to predict what will happen to the water if it is left out
overnight in an uncovered dish.
d) Ask students what will happen if the dishes were covered.
2. b. After the activity
a) Have students, on a sheet of paper answer these questions with a
partner.
b) Which dish evaporated faster?
c) Where did the water go?
d) How did the water evaporate?
3. c. Explain to the students that the process of water "going" into the air is
called evaporation. Have students discuss with their partner what
happens to water after it evaporates. Write some other examples of
evaporation.
4. 3. Procedures
a) Divide the class into pairs. Have each pair of students get two
dishes. Put one tablespoon of water in each dish. Place one dish
in the sunlight, or if the sun isn't shining, place the dish under a
light source. Let students decide if they want to cover their dishes
or leave them uncovered. Place the other dish in the shade. Have
each pair of students observe and record what happens to the
water.
Lesson 3:
A. B. CONDENSATION ACTIVITIES
1. 1. Materials (for groups of 2-3 students)
a) A clean, clear 2 liter plastic bottle for every 3 students
b) A box of wood matches for every 3 students
c) A thermometer for every bottle (available at fish stores)
d) An eye dropper or other container for water
B. 2. Discussion questions
1. a. Prior to the activities
a) What makes air warm? What happens to warm air?

b) What makes air cold? What happens to cold air?

c) What are clouds? How are clouds made?
d) What 3 things are necessary to form clouds?
e) What is fog?
2. b. After the activities
a) Have students answer this question in writing: In your own words
explain what we did in these two activities. What do you know
about the relationship between air temperature, air pressure,
condensation, and the formation of clouds?
C. 3. Procedures
1. It is recommended that these activities be carried out over two class
sessions. The first session is part 1 and second session is part 2.
2. Session 1: T
emperature changes in a closed pop bottle
a) Tell students that they will work in groups of 3.
b) Each group will have:
(1) 1 clear plastic bottle with cap
(2) 1 temperature strip
(3) 1 strip of tape
(4) 1 Box of Matches
(5) 1 paper on which to record their data
c) The first step :
(1) Tape the temperature strip into the bottle so that you can
read it. Then screw the bottle cap on tightly. Lay the bottle
on its side so you can easily read the temperature strip.
(2) Read and record the temperature of the air inside the
bottle. Then use both hands to squeeze the bottle as hard
as you can. After about 1 minute read the strip. Then stop
squeezing and read the temperature strip after about 1
minute.
(3) What happened the temperature when you squeezed the
bottle.
(4) What happened to the temperature when you stopped
squeezing the bottle?
3. Session 2: Making a cloud-in-a-bottle
a) Open the bottle and pour in a few drops of water. Screw the bottle
cap on tightly. Swirl the water around the inside of the bottle so
that most of the inside of the bottle is wet. Squeeze the bottle and
observe the temperature again. What happened?
b) Lay the bottle on it's side, open the bottle, and push down to
flatten the bottle to about 1/2 it's normal size. Have someone light
a match, blow it out, and put the match into the bottle while it is
still smoldering. Quickly release the sides of the bottle and put the

cap on tightly. Now squeeze the bottle as before very tightly for
about 1 minute. Quickly let it pop open.
c) What happens? Hopefully, you should be able to see a cloud. In
this experiment you saw water molecules condense into a cloud in
the bottle. When you squeezed the bottle the air pressure in the
bottle increased which raised the temperature. The warmer air
caused the water in the bottle to evaporate (it became water
vapor) and you could not see it. When you let the bottle pop out
the air pressure in the bottle was lowered and so was the
temperature. This caused the water molecules to condense into a
cloud
III.

Lesson 4:
A. C. Precipitation Activity
1. 1. Materials
a) A heat source to boil water
b) A pot in which to boil water
c) A Pyrex or other container with a handle
d) Ice cubes
e) A pie pan or other container
B. 2. Discussion questions
1. a. Prior to the activity
a) What is rain? How does rain happen? What is snow? How does
snow happen? What is hail? Ask students immediately before
activity What do you think will happen to the bowl of ice, to the
steam, to the bottom of the bowl?
b) Tell the students they need to focus on these questions during the
activity. What do you see happening on the bottom of the bowl?
What do you see happening in the pie tin? How does the water get
on the bowl? Are the water drops on the side of the bowl the same
size? Why? Which drops are falling from the bowl? Why? Which
drops look like rain? Which drops look like a cloud? How are the
big drops formed?
2. b. After the activity On a sheet of paper answer these questions with a
partner. What did you see happening on the bottom of the bowl? What do
you see happening in the pie tin? How did the water get on the bowl?
Were the water drops on the side of the bowl the same size? Why? Which
drops were falling from the bowl? Why? Which drops looked like rain?
Which drops looked like a cloud? How were the big drops formed?
a) Explain that the small misty drops which have condensed onto the
side of the bowl of ice represent a cloud. The winds in a cloud
blow the small drops around so that they collide with one another.
During these collisions, some drops will combine with others
making bigger and bigger drops. When the drops become so large

that the upward motion of the air cannot keep them in the sky, the
drops fall as precipitation. If the temperature is cold enough the
drops will freeze as crystals, making snow. If the drops get
together first and then freeze the precipitation will be hail.
C. 3. Procedures Set up this activity where students can gather around you and see
what happens to the pot with ice in it and to the moisture that drips from the pot
into the pie tin. Place a pot of water on the heat source until it comes to a boil. Fill
the Pyrex pot with ice. Once the water is boiling, hold the bowl of ice over the
steam. Place the pie tin so that the water which drips from the bottom of the bowl
will collect in the tin. Continue to hold the pot of ice over the boiling water until all
the students have had a clear view of what is happening on the surface of the pot
with the ice.
D. D. WHERE DOES THE WATER GO WHEN IT HITS THE EARTH?
1. . Paper and a writing tool
2. 2. Discussion questions What kinds of precipitation are there? What
happens to precipitation when it reaches the ground? How can water be
stored?
3. 3. Activity Make a list of all the places that water goes once it reaches the
ground. Divide students into groups and have them make sketches or
drawings as well as written descriptions of what happens to the water
when it lands in these places. Have a class sharing and discussion about
the answers generated.
E. E. SOIL MOISTURE AND RUNOFF
1. 1. Materials for every 2 students
a) About 100 ml (half cup) of each of a variety of soils
b) A funnel
c) Filter paper disks folded into cones, one for each soil type
d) A graduated cylinder (or a teaspoon)
e) A jar of water
f) A tray or other container which will catch water
2. 2. Discussion questions
a) a. Prior to the activity
(1) From where does ground water come?
(2) What causes streams and rivers?
(3) Do different types of soil hold different quantities of water?
(4) Explain that the funnel is used to 'channel' the water once
the soil has absorbed all it can hold.
b) b. After the activity
(1) On a sheet of paper answer these questions with a
partner. How did you know the soil was saturated?
(2) What happened to the water once the soil was saturated?
(3) Where does water go after it runs to a stream? (List at
least 2 possibilities.)

3. 3. Procedures
a) Every 2 students will put a cone of filter paper in a funnel. Place
100 ml (about 1/2 cup) of dry soil in the funnel and tamp the soil
gently. Pour 5 ml (about one teaspoon) of water onto the soil
every 30 seconds until water appears at the bottom of the funnel.
Repeat the experiment with the other soils and a new filter cone.
Have students describe what process happens between the water
and land to form streams.
IV.

Lesson 5:
A. F. THE WHOLE WATER CYCLE
1. 1. Materials for terrarium activity
a) Potting soil
b) A package of seeds e.g. marigold or pea
c) Container for pouring water.
d) A plastic container e.g. small like you can get at the grocery for
salad. (Check with your local water department they may have the
materials for a terrarium they will give you.)
2. 2. Discussion questions
a) a. Prior to building the terrarium
b) How do all of the parts of the water cycle fit together?
c) What would happen if one part was left out?
d) b. After building the terrarium
e) Observe what happens to the water in this closed container and
help the students observe and describe the different parts of the
water cycle they see in the terrarium.
f) Keep track of your observations in a science journal. Each day
look for the following things:
g) What is the seed doing?
h) On which parts of the terrarium do you see water?
i) What new is happening in your terrarium today?
3.Procedures
I.
Review the water cycle boogie and then have the students
do it. Explain that each student will get to build or have
their own terrarium to observe the water cycle. Provide
each student with a small plastic container which can be
covered tightly with either a clear lid or plastic wrap. Have
each student put soil in the bottom, put a plant seed in the
soil, and lightly water the soil. Cover the terrarium with the
lid or plastic wrap and place in a location where it can get
sunshine
http://www-k12.atmos.washington.edu/k12/pilot/water_cycle/teacherpage.html