BIOL 303
Environmental Lesson Plan
Title: Weather in a Cup / The Water Cycle
Grade Level: 3rd
Purpose:
The purpose of this activity is to learn about the water cycle, specifically clouds and precipitation.
Objective:
Students will be able to create their own “weather in a cup” that represents how water droplets within a cloud grow and become heavy, which results in falling through the clouds to the Earth, known as precipitation.
Materials:
Shaving cream (Enough for whole class)
Water (Enough for whole class)
Clear cups (2 cups for each group)
Food coloring (Enough for whole class)
Inquiry Question(s):
Why does precipitation occur on Earth?
How does water move through clouds?
What is the water cycle?
Vocabulary:
The water cycle is the journey water takes as it circulates from the land to the sky and back again.
When the temperature and atmospheric pressure are right, the same droplets of water in clouds from larger droplets and precipitation occurs. The raindrops fall to Earth.
Condensation is the opposite of evaporation. It occurs when a gas is changed into a liquid.
Evaporation is the process where a liquid, in this case water, changes from its liquid state to a gaseous state.
Clouds are a large collection of very tiny droplets of water or ice crystals. The water droplets are so small and light they can float in the air.
A molecule is a group of two or more atoms that stick together. Molecules are so small that nobody can see them, except with an electron microscope. A molecule is the smallest unit of a substance that has all the properties of that substance. For instance, a water molecule is the smallest unit that is still water. A water molecule can be divided into tiny parts called atoms. This produces two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom.
When a solution reaches the point where it cannot dissolve any more solute it is considered saturated.
Procedures:
Engage:
I will start the lesson with asking students about weather,