Water Cycle
CONTEXT
Grade(s): Grade 3
Subject(s): Math
GOALS
Curricular Learning Outcome: “Students investigate and analyze how materials
Expectations: have the potential to be changed.”
Knowledge: “The water cycle is a process in which water on Eather
moves continuously between bodies of water, land, and the
atmosphere.”
o “In the water cycle, water changes state from a liquid to a gas
through evaporation, forms clouds through condensation, then
falls back to Earth in a liquid or solid state (precipitation)
o “Water can change state from solid to liquid and back again.”
o “Water can change state from liquid to gas and back again.”
o “In Alberta, the surfaces of many bodies of water change from
liquid in the summer to solid in the winter.”
Understanding: “The water on Earth moves continuously in a cycle.”
Skills and Procedures: “Describe and diagram the changes of state of
water using the water cycle.”
MATERIALS & RESOURCES
Water Cycle Youtube Video
o [Link]
Google Slides for the introduction
o [Link]
Okd2iVabd22OxK6EZL_qpN19RZT-RaRMl_Tdws/edit?usp=sharing
Clear glass bowl
Small cup
Blue food colouring
Plastic wrap
Elastic band
Handful of ice cubes
Tea Kettle (for hot water)
Teacher Pay Teachers Workbook (Page 21-23)
o Copy of Matter Unit - Grade 3 Science - 3 Peaks [Link]
OVERVIEW OF LEARNING ACTIVITIES & INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES
Youtube Videos
Class Discussion
Experiment/Demonstration
TIMING, SEQUENCING, TRANSITIONS OF LESSON
INCL. KEY PROMPTS & INSTRUCTIONS
Introduction Open the class by asking students to imagine they are a farmer with a
beautiful set of crops in their field.
5 minutes
o [Link]
Okd2iVabd22OxK6EZL_qpN19RZT-RaRMl_Tdws/edit?
usp=sharing
Crops need what to grow? (Water!)
However, we haven’t been getting a lot of rain lately to help our crops
grow.
Why could this be? What do you think needs to happen in order for it
to rain? (because the clouds aren’t forming, and the water isn’t
evaporating to form the clouds in the first place). Have students think-
pair-share.
Explain that we formed a cycle. What is a cycle?
Lead into watching the video.
Water Cycle Water Cycle Video
Video o [Link]
5-10 minutes Ask some questions to see what students learned from the video:
What were the 3 parts discussed in the video to form the water cycle?
o Elaborate on each step.
Let’s say we have a bunch of water, and the hot sun is out, what’s
going to happen?
o Then once it evaporates where does it go? (condensation)
o Then all the gas particles bounce together until they get all
heavy. Then when they get heavy, what happens?
(precipitation)
o Where does this precipitation go? Some goes back into bodies
of water, but what else absorbs water? (plants)
o Evaporation actually occurs in the water and in the leaves of
plants.
Learn water (start heating up the tea kettle)
cycle with our Before starting the demonstration of our very own water cycle, let’s
hands learn a simple song and hand movements to help us remember the
5 minutes water cycle.
Evaporation, Condensation, Precipitation, and Collection (Hand
gestures)
Repeat a few times.
Water Cycle Set up the experiment and say we are going to observe our own water
Experiment cycle
5 minutes o Put cup in (represents our land)
o Boiled water around cup, food colouring (represents our lake)
o Plastic Wrap and ice (represent our cold atmosphere)
We are going to observe what happens to the water in the lake.
Have students write what they see in the “before” section then draw.
o Cup, water, bowl, and plastic wrap
Brain Break Brain break while we leave the water cycle demonstration
5 minutes A brain break dance that involves the water cycle:
o [Link]
Continued Ask students what they notice. (condensation on the bowl and plastic
Water Cycle wrap)
o What stage of the water cycle does this represent?
o What is causes the condensation on the bowl and plastic wrap
to occur? (the hot water or in real life, the hot sun)
o What do you predict will happen next?
Think-Pair-Share
Have students write and draw what they see.
o Condensation around the bowl and plastic wrap.
Continued Let’s see if our predictions were correct.
Water Cycle o Do we see any water in the cup that represents our land?
o What stage of the water cycle does this represent?
Have students draw “after” and write words describing what they
observed.
Conclusion / Do the hand gesture/song one more time to review the three elements
2 minutes of the water cycle (evaporation, condensation, and precipitation)
Why is it important to learn about and understand the water cycle?
o (plants, places for animals to live, etc.)
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT(S)
Class Discussion
Experiment worksheet
Think-Pair-Share
Hand gesture song
