Water Cycle Lesson 2: The Make

Educator’s Lesson Plan

Objective In The Make, students will:

1. Draw conclusions about the stages of the water cycle from a demonstration. Stages include: boiling, evaporation, melting, condensation, and precipitation.

2. Experience the water cycle by taking a journey through its multiple paths. 3. Create an annotated diagram demonstrating possible paths of water through the water cycle.

Time Required: 105–125 minutes

Materials Required

Materials for virtual use:

● Computer for student use

Materials for in-person use:

● 9 dice

● White paper

● Optional: computers for graphing or research

● Colored pencils/markers

● Water Cycle in a Jar Demonstration materials* or view it here

○ Safety goggles

○ Two 1000 mL beakers

○ Hot plate

○ 250 mL of tap water

○ Ice (enough to fill 500 mL volume of a beaker)

○ Beaker tongs or rubber-coated, heat-resistant gripping device

○ Optional: blue food coloring to color the water

*In Lesson 1: The Live Video Phenomenon lesson, students experience the Water Cycle in a Jar demo. If

you skipped that lesson, do the demo at the beginning of this Lesson 2: The Make.

Safety Considerations

Water Cycle in a Jar Demonstration: ● Wear safety goggles to protect your eyes from steam/boiling water. ● Be sure that students are seated at a safe distance away from the hot plate and hot water. ● Use beaker tongs or a heat-resistant gripping device when handling heated glassware. ● Turn off and unplug the hot plate after the demonstration is completed to cool the beaker

system entirely.

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Science & Engineering Practices ● Developing and Using Models

● Constructing Explanations or Arguments From Evidence

Inquiry Scale

Level 1: most teacher-driven (recommended for grades 4–5)

Students can do a trial run to make sure they understand how to move in the journey. The teacher asks

facilitating questions and aids students through the journey, as needed. Discuss student journeys

through whole class discussion. Have students complete the questions through whole-class discussion.

Level 2 (recommended for grades 5–6)

Students will be given the same challenge as for Level 1, but the teacher can model how to move

through the cycle. Discuss student journeys through whole-class discussion. Have students complete the

questions through whole-class discussion.

Level 3 (recommended for grades 6–7)

Students will be given the same challenge as for Levels 1 and 2, but the students can complete the

journey questions in small groups, with the teacher facilitating, as needed. Journeys can be analyzed

through think-pair-share discussion.

Level 4: most student-driven (recommended for grades 7–8)

Students will independently go through the water cycle journey. Students work in small groups to

analyze water journeys and complete all questions. Challenge students to explain the journey of the

water droplets using their own words. As an optional extension to the demonstration, students can

create more detailed graphic representations of the amount of water on Earth by including more

specific breakdowns of the percentages and using Excel to create computer-generated graphs.

Agenda

I. Show PowerPoint to introduce The Make Activity and Demo (30 minutes)

The PowerPoint will review essential concepts learned in The Solve and provide context for the students’

upcoming Make challenge. Use the notes in the presentation to guide a class discussion. Note: If you

started the unit with the Live Solve only, and skipped the animated mystery, students will be learning

about transpiration and sublimation for the first time during the Make PowerPoint.

 

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II. The Make Activity (50 minutes)

1. Conduct the Water Cycle in a Jar demonstration for the class* or have students watch it virtually

here. *In Lesson 1: The Live Video Phenomenon lesson, students experience the Water Cycle in

a Jar as a demonstration. If you skipped that lesson, do the demo at the beginning of this

Lesson 2: The Make. Directions here (Page 6, Part 2)

2. As guided by the organizer, students will go through the journey and keep track of their path.

If students are doing this activity remotely, they will access their destination cards here. If doing this in-class, use the following procedure:

a. To prepare for the activity, cut out the Location Cards (located in Appendix A) and

Traveling Cards (located in Appendix B). Place one Location Card and the corresponding

Traveling Card at each table throughout the room.

b. To begin, divide the class equally among all nine locations and send them to the location

tables where they will begin their journey.

c. Students will indicate the starting point on the chart labeled “The Travel Adventures of

Water” in their Student Guide.

d. Once they’ve logged their starting location on the chart, they will roll the dice and use

the Traveling Card located on each table (as well as in the Student Guide) to determine

their next move. Each move needs to be logged in the Student Guide chart.

e. After they have completed their journeys, students will create their annotated diagram

to show how they moved through the water cycle and then answer the questions in

their Guide.

Optional: If you feel that students would benefit from studying each location, break students up into

groups and have them research and create the Location Cards themselves before they do the activity. To

create the full card, have students include a photo of the water source, how the water can get to the

source, and where can it go from the source. You can then use the student-created cards at each table

instead of the Location Cards provided in Appendix A.

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Water Cycle Journey Answer Key

Example Water Cycle Journey Student Diagram

Water Cycle Journey Questions

a. What do you notice about your path? Students may notice many things about their path

including (but not limited to) the fact that they did not travel in a specific path, but rather that

they went randomly to different places. They may notice that they spent more time at certain

locations than others.

b. What parts of your water cycle journey were impacted by the force of gravity? Explain. Student

answers will vary depending on their path, but precipitation, runoff, and groundwater movement

are all impacted by the force of gravity as water is pulled down to or through the earth’s surface

from a higher elevation.

c. Was sunlight required in parts of your water cycle journey? Explain. Student answers will vary

depending on their path, but sunlight is required in the processes of evaporation, sublimation,

and transpiration. The heat from the sunlight causes the water molecules to vibrate faster and

change from a liquid to a gas.

d. Did you spend the same amount of time in each place? Answers will vary.

e. Where did you spend the most time? Did you skip any places? Why could that happen? Student

answers will vary.

f. With other members of your group, compare your path with theirs. What do you notice? Fill in

the similarities and differences below. Student answers will vary.

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g. What would happen if we took out one of the paths in the water cycle? Give an example.

Student answers will vary. Example Answer: If we eliminated one of the paths of the water cycle,

water could not correctly cycle on the planet. For example, if precipitation was eliminated, water

from the atmosphere would not be able to return to the ground, impacting drinking water

supplies and water supplies in habitats for plant and animal life.

III. Presentation (15–25 minutes)

After student groups have completed the questions in their Student Guide, each group can give a three

minute presentation explaining what they learned about the water cycle. Encourage students to use

their vocabulary and to refer to their diagram in the Student Guide. Emphasize to students the various

paths that water can take, and encourage students to notice that the water cycle is very complex.

IV. Exit Ticket (10 minutes)

Students complete the exit ticket that summarizes their understanding of The Make and connects

students to the upcoming Engineering challenge.

Note: In collaborative classrooms, this serves as the individual accountability in an otherwise group

project.

Exit Ticket Answer Key

1. How is water able to get from the clouds to the river? What force is responsible for pulling water

from the clouds back down to the ground?

When water in the clouds gets heavy enough, gravity causes the water to fall as precipitation in the

form of rain or snow, which can land in a river.

2. How is water able to get to the clouds? Where can the water come from?

When water on the surface of the planet is heated up by the energy from the sun, it can evaporate

and rise up into the atmosphere. Here it can cool off and condense to form clouds. The water can start

in a river, lake, ocean, plant, or glacier.

3. Why is sunlight essential to the water cycle process?

Sunlight heats water molecules in bodies of water on the ground. When the water molecules gain

energy from the sunlight, evaporation occurs and water vapor enters the atmosphere. If there was no

evaporation, water could not properly cycle on the planet.

4. Explain two ways that water can be released from animal bodies to be reused in the water cycle

process. Answers will vary. Potential answers include: Water is released from animal bodies when

they urinate. This water enters back into the ground and can be absorbed by plant roots, can soak

into the groundwater supply, or run off into a local pond or lake. When animals exhale, water vapor

can escape into the atmosphere. When animal bodies decompose, water in animal tissue is released

back into the environment.When animals sweat, water is released into the atmosphere.

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5. Why does it matter if water sources are overused?

Answers may vary, but students may say that if people overuse our water sources then there may not

be enough left for communities to use for everyday living, since only 0.3% of freshwater is available

for human use.

6. What are some ways we can conserve freshwater?

Answers can vary, but students may propose solutions like turning off the faucet while brushing their

teeth, checking for leaky faucets in their house or school, or taking shorter showers.

7. What can happen if we do not have enough freshwater available in a community?

Answers may vary, but students may think about a drought happening when there is not enough

water. Students can also think about what water use restrictions might be imposed on a community,

such as only being permitted to water your lawn or wash your car a certain number of times.

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The Make Assessment: Project Grade and Rubric Score Sheet – Water Cycle

Project Submitted by ________________________________________

Water Cycle The Make Checklist: Content Concepts and Practices Your Challenge: Shows the possible paths within the water cycle and label the processes involved in moving

water between locations.

Project Completion:

❏ Demonstration data is complete

❏ Travel Log Chart is complete

❏ Diagram includes the path of the water cycle journey

❏ Includes arrows showing the path of the water

❏ Describes the processes the water goes through as it moves to different locations

❏ Incorporates relevant Water Cycle vocabulary (evaporation, transpiration, condensation,

precipitation, sublimation, freezing, or melting)

❏ Explains how water changes in different locations

❏ Diagram design is well-organized and neat with relevant annotations

 DCI Standards Checklist:

❏ Demonstration Diagram: Accurately identifies and labels each phase change within the water cycle

(boiling, evaporation, condensation, melting, and precipitation)

❏ Water Cycle Diagram:

❏ Accurately incorporates Water Cycle vocabulary terms in order to depict the Water Cycle

Journey and to describe the cycling of water through Earth's systems driven by energy from

the sun and the force of gravity.

Science & Engineering Practices Rubric

Emerging (1) Developing (2) Proficient (3) Advanced (4)

Developing and Using Models

Drawings, diagrams, or visual models include major misconceptions or have missing parts. Explanation of the model is minimal or not present.

Drawings, diagrams, or visual models include minor misconceptions or have missing parts. Explanation of the model is minimal.

Drawings, diagrams, or visual models are complete, but contain a minor misconception. Explanation of the model is complete but lacking complexity.

Drawings, diagrams, or visual models have no misconceptions and contain all details. Explanation of the model is complete and complex.

Constructing Explanations or Arguments From Evidence

Constructs an explanation with no clear sources of evidence.

Uses scientific principles and/or data from at least one source to construct or evaluate an explanation, but explanation contains minor misconceptions.

Uses accurate but incomplete scientific principles and/or data from multiple sources to construct or evaluate an explanation.

Uses accurate and complete scientific principles and/or data from multiple sources to construct or evaluate an explanation.

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Teacher Comments:

Final Score: Final Grade:

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Appendix A: Location Cards

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Appendix B: Traveling Cards: cut out & place at stations  

At the Soil Station  At the River Station 

Dice roll  Travel  Dice roll  Travel 

1  Plant  1  Lake 

2  River  2  Groundwater 

3  Groundwater  3  Ocean 

4  Clouds  4  Animals 

5  Stay  5  Clouds 

6  Clouds  6  Stay  

At the Plant Station  At the Clouds Station 

Dice roll  Travel  Dice roll  Travel 

1  Clouds  1  Soil 

2  Stay  2  Glacier 

3  Clouds  3  Lake 

4  Clouds  4  Ocean 

5  Stay  5  Ocean 

6  Clouds  6  Stay  

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At the Ocean Station  At the Lake Station 

Dice Roll  Travel  Dice Roll 

Travel 

1  Clouds  1  Groundwater 

2  Stay   2  Animal  

3  Stay  3  River 

4  Stay  4  Clouds 

5  Stay  5  Stay 

6  Clouds  6  Clouds  

At the Groundwater  Station 

At the Glacier Station 

Dice Roll  Travel  Dice Roll  Travel 

1  River  1  Clouds 

2  Lake   2  River 

3  Lake  3  Stay 

4  Stay  4  Stay 

5  Stay  5  Groundwater 

6  Stay  6  Stay 

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 At the Animal Station 

Dice Roll  Travel 

1  Soil 

2  Soil 

3  Clouds 

4  Clouds 

5  Clouds 

6  Stay 

  

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