The Water Cycle

The Water Cycle

In this activity, students will build a model to simulate parts of the water cycle.
They will be able to recognize and explain the essential elements of the water
cycle.

Background

Water, in its different forms, cycles continuously through the lithosphere,

hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere. Water evaporates into the
atmosphere from the land and the sea. Plants and animals use and reuse
water and release water vapor into the air. Once in the air, water vapor
circulates and can condense to form clouds and precipitation, which fall back
to earth. At one time or another, all of the water molecules on earth have been
in an ocean, a river, a plant, an animal, a cloud, a raindrop, a snowflake, or a
glacier!
As far as we know, earth is the only planet with water in three phases: solid,
liquid, and gas. The phase of water is determined by its temperature and
pressure.
Water is essential for life on earth. It is recycled through

the water or hydrologic cycle, which involves the following processes:
 Evaporation, the changing of water from a liquid to a gas
 Condensation, the changing of water from a gas to a liquid

 Sublimation, the changing of water from a solid to a gas
 Precipitation, the process by which water molecules condense to form drops

heavy enough to fall to the earth's surface
 Transpiration, the process by which moisture is carried through plants from

roots to leaves, where it changes to vapor and is released to the atmosphere
 Surface runoff, the flowing of water over the land from higher to lower ground
 Infiltration, the process of water filling the porous spaces of soil
 Percolation, groundwater moving in the saturated zone below the earth's

surface
Through these processes, the amount of water on earth remains nearly

constant and is continually recycled through time. Water molecules may
remain in one form for a very long period of time (for example, water
molecules can be locked in Antarctic ice for thousands of years) and in other
forms for very short times (for example, water molecules in desert rainstorms
spend mere minutes as surface water before evaporating into vapor again).
Learning Goals
1. Students will appreciate that scale models can be an important tool to use to help
understand global processes.
2. Students will be able to recognize and explain the essential elements of the
water cycle.
Alignment to National Standards
National Science Education Standards
 Unifying Concepts and Processes, Grades K to 12, pg.117: "Models are tentative
schemes or structures that correspond to real objects, events, or classes of
events and that have explanatory power."
 Earth and Space Science, Grades 5 to 8, Structure of the Earth System, pg.160,
Item #6: "Water, which covers the majority of the earth's surface, circulates
through the crust, oceans, and atmosphere in what is known as the "water cycle."
Water evaporates from the earth's surface, rises and cools as it moves to higher
elevations, condenses as rain or snow, and falls to the surface where it collects
in lakes, oceans, soils, and in rocks underground."
Benchmarks for Science Literacy, Project 2061, AAAS
 Common Themes, Models, Grades 6 to 8, pg. 269, Item #1: "Models are often
used to think about processes that happen too slowly, too quickly, or on too small
a scale to observe directly, or that are too vast to be changed deliberately, or that
are potentially dangerous."
 The Physical Setting, The Earth, Grades 6 to 8, pg. 69, Item #7: "The cycling of
water in and out of the atmosphere plays an important role in determining
climatic patterns. Water evaporates from the surface of the earth, rises and
cools, condenses into rain or snow, and falls back again to the surface. The
water falling on land collects in rivers and lakes, soil, and porous layers of rock,
and much of it flows back into the ocean."
Grade Level/Time
 Grade level: 6 to 9
 Time:
 Introduction to the water cycle: 30 minutes
 Activity as demonstration: 30 minutes
 Activity as group project: 45 minutes
 Discussion: 20 minutes
Materials
 Artist's clay or plastic mountain model
 Plastic shoe box with cover
 Petri dish
 Lamp
 Water
 Crushed ice
Procedure
If you have a large aquarium, you can do this activity as a demonstration,

allowing the students to study and observe the phenomena and develop their
own ideas and conclusions for class discussion. With sufficient materials, you
can also do it as a group project, with teams of three to five students
responsible for setting up the model and drawing conclusions from their own
work. The activity is described below as if it were a demonstration. As always,
if done by students, it's important not to overly explain what is "supposed" to
happen, but rather let them discover the model cycle for themselves.
1. Discuss the water cycle with students. Show the graphic of the water cycle and
explain the various parts.
2. Using the clay, shape a mountain.
3. Place the mountain on one side of the shoe box with the sloped side facing the
interior of the box where the "ocean" will be.

4. Pour water into the "ocean" basin until about one-fourth of the mountain slope is
covered.
5. Replace the lid of the shoe box.
6. Place a petri dish on top of the shoe box over the mountain (as shown).
7. Place crushed ice into the petri dish.
8. Position the lamp over the ocean. Turn on the lamp. CAUTION: THE LAMP WILL
GET HOT. DO NOT TOUCH THE BULB OR SHADE.
9. Have students observe the container carefully and note any changes that they
see. It might help to add a little smoke to the aquarium to help them see the
circulation. (A few matches lit, then blown out and quickly dropped into the box
will work).
Observations and Questions
Observation Questions Answers

1. Which part of the activity simulated Evaporation was simulated as the
evaporation? 'ocean' was heated by the lamp.
Condensation occurred as the water
vapor from the ocean cooled on the lid
2. Which part simulated condensation?
of the shoe box near the petri dish of
ice.
The drops of water falling from the lid of
3. Which part simulated precipitation?
the shoe box simulated precipitation.
4. What is the energy source and what The energy source was the lamp, which
does it represent? represented the sun.
5. What elements of the water cycle are Transpiration, infiltration, sublimation,
not represented? and percolation were not represented.
6. How could we demonstrate We could demonstrate transpiration by
transpiration in this activity? adding live plants to the shoe box.
Condensation might occur over the
mountains but not as quickly. The ice
7. Would condensation occur in the box
provided a greater temperature
without the ice? Why or why not?
difference, forcing the vapor to
condense.
8. After observing this activity, explain
Water is continually recycled through the
why water is considered a renewable
various parts of the water cycle.
resource.
9. The system you observed/constructed
is a model of the way the actual water
cycle works. Why might scientists use a
model like this in their research into the
water cycle in the real world? Can you
think of any reason that using such
models might be a problem?
Assessment Ideas
 Have students answer some or all of the questions in lab notebooks for collection
and evaluation.
 Challenge the students to use their understanding of the water cycle to explain a
related phenomenon. Example:
 Put 1/2 inch or so of sand or gravel in a re-sealable plastic bag.
 Add 1/4 cup of water (color the water blue for easier visibility).
 Put it in a sunny window or under a bright light.
 The students should see evaporation/condensation/precipitation and

infiltration take place. They should identify that transpiration was not part
of the system.
Modifications for Alternative Learners
 Students with language difficulties should be encouraged to rely on labeled

diagrams to help answer the assessment questions.

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The Water Cycle

Water, in its different forms, cycles continuously through the lithosphere,

Water is essential for life on earth. It is recycled through

 Evaporation, the changing of water from a liquid to a gas

 Condensation, the changing of water from a gas to a liquid

 Precipitation, the process by which water molecules condense to form drops

 Transpiration, the process by which moisture is carried through plants from

 Infiltration, the process of water filling the porous spaces of soil

 Percolation, groundwater moving in the saturated zone below the earth's

Through these processes, the amount of water on earth remains nearly

National Science Education Standards

Benchmarks for Science Literacy, Project 2061, AAAS

 Introduction to the water cycle: 30 minutes

 Activity as demonstration: 30 minutes

 Activity as group project: 45 minutes

 Artist's clay or plastic mountain model

 Plastic shoe box with cover

If you have a large aquarium, you can do this activity as a demonstration,

2. Using the clay, shape a mountain.

5. Replace the lid of the shoe box.

7. Place crushed ice into the petri dish.

Observations and Questions

Observation Questions Answers

 Put 1/2 inch or so of sand or gravel in a re-sealable plastic bag.

 Put it in a sunny window or under a bright light.

 The students should see evaporation/condensation/precipitation and

 Students with language difficulties should be encouraged to rely on labeled

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