THE WATER CYCLE
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
While Learning about "Weather" the children will have become familiar with the ideas of moisture in the air, clouds etc. Learning about The Water Cycle can build on this knowledge further.
Water on the Earth's surface can take many different forms, but the total amount never changes! It follows a continuous, never-ending cycle, known as "The Water Cycle".
The Sun heats the water collected in Rivers, Lakes and the Sea and it evaporates. When it has risen it cools and then condenses to form clouds. When the clouds get too heavy they drop the water back down in different forms, called precipitation. It gathers on the Earth and the cycle starts all over again!!
While Learning about "Weather" the children will have become familiar with the ideas of moisture in the air, clouds etc. Learning about The Water Cycle can build on this knowledge further.
Water on the Earth's surface can take many different forms, but the total amount never changes! It follows a continuous, never-ending cycle, known as "The Water Cycle".
The Sun heats the water collected in Rivers, Lakes and the Sea and it evaporates. When it has risen it cools and then condenses to form clouds. When the clouds get too heavy they drop the water back down in different forms, called precipitation. It gathers on the Earth and the cycle starts all over again!!
TEACHING IDEAS |
DIGITAL RESOURCES |
1. Introduction of the sub-topic -supported by : (A)"giflewriting.pbworks.com" The Children could be shown the poem "The Water Cycle" by Helen H.Moore on the projector/IWB and then read it aloud together. They could then be asked a variety of open and closed questions to stimulate their curiosity eg. "Do you think water only comes from the sink? Where do you think it comes from? How does it get there? Where does it go? etc" (B) PADLET Guided Discussion: using a pairwork/groupwork arrangement and/or a digital tool such as PADLET, encourage the children to discuss the above questions and create a KWL chart. *Note: if all children do not have access to PADLET, use large sheets/pens to collect ideas and nominate a scribe to add content to Padlet. |
1. Resource-
supported by: (A) pdf of poem "giflewriting.pbworks.com" (B) PADLET |
2. Development of the sub-topic -supported by : (A)YouTube Here the children are introduced to The Water Cycle in an interactive and fun way. They are encouraged to join in and sing the song as each stage is repeated several times. (B) Prezi This direct teaching approach breaks down The Water Cycle into its distinct parts and simplifies/reinforces the terminology found in the song/video shown previously. The teacher can go into further detail as appropriate. Throughout the short presentation, additional open and closed questions may be posed to the children to encourage some further discussion in pairs/groups. *(C) Possible Task Extension: using Visualiser The children could now collaborate in groups to create their own 2D Water Cycle diagrams with labels on large sheets. They could also create 3D diagrams with various textures as part of Visual Arts. (examples on right from google images) They could then present their 2D or 3D diagrams to the rest of the class using a visualiser if available. This will help develop their oral language and presentation skills. Another option here could be to create an inter-active flipchart presentation so the children could come up and match up the labels to specific parts of the diagram, sequencing, etc. |
2. Resource-
supported by: (A) YouTube video and song on The Water Cycle (B) Short lesson presentation using Prezi
(C) Visualiser |
3. Conclusion of the sub-topic -supported by : Qzzr The use of an interactive quiz here can be a great way of Assessing children's learning. **The Enquiry approach using the KWL chart created in section 1 (B) using PADLET could also be revisited at this stage to fill in the "L" section. |
3. Resource-
supported by: Qzzr |