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Weekly Lesson Plans (Water Cycle)






This week in class we have been looking at the water cycle.


Monday


Introduced the water cycle with a Promethan Planet flip chart. Taught the steps of the water cycle song (click here to see a TeacherTube video of some of my students from last year singing it with hand motions). Watched a BrainPop on the water cycle. Read a left hand notebooking assignment about the water cycle. Students started working on the right hand assignment which was a flip picture of the water cycle where students had to write which step of the water cycle each flip was and what it does. For a couple of classes I made cut and paste cards that students had to match and glue under the flaps (faster and helped with students who write large).


Tuesday


Reviewed water cycle and water cycle song. Showed short Streamline Video recapping the water cycle (approx. 15 min). Gave students a "fill in the blank" brochure I had made to go with the textbook chapter about the water cycle (the inside flap was vocabulary definitions and the other two flaps were questions that they had to answer reading the text. Back turned in flap was a picture of the water cycle they got to color when they were done. Made it with Microsoft Publisher - brochure option). The brochure got glued into the notebook (I should have glued this to the right hand side of the notebook but accidentally glued it to the left) and lyrics to a water cycle rap song was glued onto the other side.


Wednesday


Students took their mid-unit weather test. Reviewed the lyrics to the water cycle rap and made connections (song has terms that are slightly more advanced then they need to know for this grade level but it is fun and the general idea of the water cycle is conveyed). Played song several times for students. Rest of class was used for catch up work (brochure, water cycle flip, or anything else they need to complete in the notebook).


Thursday


Set up an evaporation experiment in class that will run through two weeks. We are answering the question "Does salt water evaporate faster then fresh water?". We live by the ocean and I was able to get an empty gallon milk container and fill it with salt water and filled another gallon with fresh. Those went in to containers and we set up our lab paperwork in the notebooks (I learned from my last experiment that I needed to scan my lab paperwork into a Promethean flip chart and save it each time we added data. It is easier for the children to see). We also started the mini science fair boards to go with the experiment (went on left hand side of notebook and we filled in the spots we could) on the right hand side I glued a WEATHER acrostics and had students get with their clock partners to start filling it in.



Friday


Picked two volunteers to measure evaporation experiment. Recorded our results We reviewed steps of the water cycle and vocabulary. Sung the water cycle song with hand motions and the rap song. Students took a water cycle quiz. We watched The Magic School Bus Water Cycle video (Wet all Over). Made connections to what we have learned this week after video was over. Students got to finish up acrostic.


NOTES - This week was a bit odd because we had an assembly and the GT students went on an all day field trip another day. All the above got done but necessary in the order I had originally planned. Only one class saw the 15 minute streamline video on the water cycle and because I was missing a lot of students in one class due to the field trip I showed that class a Magic School Bus video about storms (Title - Kicks Up a Storm).

NOTES FOR NEXT YEAR - Need to find a simple water cycle demonstration. Heard of one using blue colored water in a baggie taped to a window. If anyone would like to share I would love to know what works well in the classroom.
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Comments

5th Grade Science said…
Love these for the water cycle, gives me some great ideas for a notebooking activity for the rock cycle...thanks!!
October 3, 2009 at 9:34 PM
Eve Heaton said…
The flip things were a bit of a pain. I drew a picture of the water cycle and cut out little boxes that flipped open so they could write under it onto the notebook page. The cutting out the boxes for 75 students was the nightmare. I did 25 at a time while watching TV each night. The kids liked the activity. I had one class write and the next two classes got to cut, paste and match the term and definition under the flap (they love to cut and glue in the fourth grade!).

Eve
October 4, 2009 at 5:23 AM
jgerald0001 said…
I take a ziplock bag and turn it sideways and place a small Dixie cup in the corner. It fits perfect as the bag is sideways. Put water in the cup and tape it to the window. This may be like the one you are talking about with the blue water, but in a couple of days, the bag gets water droplets inside the bag and it looks cloudy(condensation). As the students record observations those water droplets start getting heavy and they will slide down the side of the bag simulating precipitation. The water is collected in the corner below the cup. It really is neat to watch and the kids love making observations.
November 26, 2009 at 9:40 AM
Eve Heaton said…
I am going to have to do the dixie cup and baggie thing next year. Thank you for sharing!

Eve
November 27, 2009 at 8:09 AM
Kristen said…
Wow, this is fantastic! Thank you so much for sharing this, we are starting units on Water Cycle and Weather in January and I know I'll be visiting your blog a lot for inspiration.

Thank you!!
December 28, 2010 at 11:47 AM
Anonymous said…
Would LOVE tho have a copy of the sheet you used with the cutouts of the water cycle... the one where the students wrote each part ( shown on the top picture... Is it available or can you share with us where you found it?
April 2, 2013 at 11:07 PM
Unknown said…
I would love a copy of the pages you used too! Where can I find them? They would be perfect for my daughter's science notebook!
September 2, 2013 at 9:27 PM
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