a teacher resource guide for · lesson overview the education resource was developed using the 5e...

A Teacher Resource Guide for

For Grades 3 - 6

Children’s Museum of Virginia

Children’s Museum of Virginia

Lesson Overview

The education resource was developed using the 5E model of learning and involves pre-visit activities to

Engage student interest, planetarium presentations using simulation software along with hands on

activities to Explore and Explain the concepts of the water cycle, its relationship to life on Earth and the

importance of water as one of Virginia’s natural resources, an Extend section where they further

develop the concept of their visit as well as the Evaluate section to allow a check of student mastery.

The delivery of the Explore and Explain sections can be tailored to your particular needs and may include

one of two possible planetarium shows as well as one of three possible group hands on activities.

Standards of Learning

Virginia Standards

Science – Standards of Learning 3.9, 4.9 and 6.7

National Standards

National Science Education Standards (NSES)

MS ESS2 - 4

Essential Questions

How is Earth’s limited water sources able to be recycled?

What are three phases of water and how are they related to the water cycle?

What is a watershed and how do watersheds relate to the water cycle?

Instructional Objectives

Students will:

identify the sun, with the input of Earth’s gravity, as the origin of energy powering the water

cycle;

describe the processes of evaporation (evapotranspiration), condensation, advection and

precipitation as they relate to the water cycle;

identify the major river sources of Virginia’s principle estuary, the Chesapeake Bay watershed;

and describe the role of Earth’s topography on the formation of watersheds.

Background

Water is perhaps Earth’s most important resource. While the total amount of water on Earth is finite,

with water’s very unique physical and chemical characteristics, is has the ability to be recycled with the

help of the Sun’s energy. Earth’s unique location with the ‘Goldilocks Zone” or Habitable Zone (not too

hot nor too cold) of our solar system ensures that the temperature extremes of Earth allows water to

simultaneously exist as a liquid (water), a solid (ice and snow) as well as a gas (water vapor). The Sun’s

energy can change water’s physical state over the Earth. As the water picks up the Sun’s energy it may

change into water vapor through a process known as evaporation. The water vapor may rise into the

atmosphere where it loses some of the heat and changes back into water vapor in a process known as

condensation. The condensation of water vapor back to water droplets may form clouds. Clouds then

are transported from where they form in a process known as advection. These droplets may then join

and fall as precipitation back to the surface. When droplets of rain, snow, hail or sleet reach the surface

they may ultimately flow back to large water sources like bays or the ocean through a process known as

runoff or they may sink into the ground and become part of the groundwater.

The shape of the Earth’s surface ultimately affects what will happen to the falling precipitation. High

regions such as mountains serve as divides. These divides separate the region into watersheds. A

watershed is an area over which surface water (and the materials it carries) flows to a single collection

place. The joining of small surface flows of water into a larger flow is the formation of tributaries.

Water collected along long stretches of divides in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains supplies water to the

Chesapeake Bay. There are five major rivers in Virginia contributing their water to the bay. They are the

Potomac, Rappahannock, York, James and the Elizabeth rivers. Each river starting with many very small

tributaries near the divide and each adding their volume to the successive rivers.

Resources

NASA Water Cycle Demonstration Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_c0ZzZfC8c

Water Cycle Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuE1LePDZ4Y

EPA Water Cycle Interactive Site

https://www3.epa.gov/safewater/kids/flash/flash_watercycle.html

Water is Water by Miranda Paul (rhyming

story book)

Publisher Roaring Brook Press, 2015

ISBN 1626724474, 9781626724471

5E lesson Development

ENGAGE (Pre Visit)

The ENGAGE activity should be completed prior to your visit to the

Beazley Planetarium. The purpose of this ENGAGE activity is to get

your students excited to learn more about the water cycle and about

the importance of water as an essential resource for life on Earth.

You may be planning on visiting our site as an introduction to the

concepts, to be used concurrently to enhance learning, or as

reinforcement for the concepts of the water cycle, water as a

natural resource or on watersheds.

If you are just beginning your study of the water cycle you may wish

to show your class the video selections. Each identifies the parts of

the cycle that shows how water moves through the cycle. A great

follow up to the videos involves the Water is Water story. In the

book the author uses rhyme to take the readers through all the

changes of water in the cycle.

The best way for students to gain understanding of the cycle

involves hands on activities. The student guide will lead your class

through three experiments to observe evaporation, condensation

and precipitation. This ENGAGE activity was adapted from the

www.palyfullearning.net water-is-water-3-experiments-for-kids

activity.

Materials List

Engage (Pre-visit)

Per Student – Student Guide

Per group of 3 – 4 students:

Four clear plastic cups

Approximately 50 ml of water (some hot water from tap)

Permanent marker

Ice cubes

Shaving cream (travel size if possible)

Food coloring

Pitchers to hold warm and cool water

Extend/Elaborate (Post-visit)

Per Student – Student Guide

Per Class

200 – 500 beads or beans

One large gallon pail

Printed signs mounted on sticks for each season

Four chairs

Length of rope, twine or string

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_c0ZzZfC8c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuE1LePDZ4Y

https://www3.epa.gov/safewater/kids/flash/flash_watercycle.html

http://www.palyfullearning.net/

1. Gather materials prior to your students’ arrival. You may wish to have the materials packed (less

water and ice cubes) in plastic storage bags.

2. Fill the pitchers with warm tap water and pitches with cool tap water.

3. Gather ice cubes and place them in cooler for the class period.

4. Group your students into teams of 3 – 4 students.

5. Have students set up the first experiment on evaporation. You will need either a sunny window

location or an area to set their cups that is warm. They will be coming back during the day to

measure the water level in the cup. They will use their observations to suggest where the water

went. This part of the experiment requires some patience. One they set their cup and make

their initial marking they should proceed to the remaining experiments.

6. Next they will demonstrate the process of condensation using two plastic cups, warm water and

ice as described in the student guide.

7. Lastly they will experiment with the process of precipitation using a cup, water, shaving cream

(cloud) and food coloring (precipitation).

8. Finally they will look for examples of each of the three processes in their own life and relate that

to the experiment observations. They will record their observations on the appropriate ENGAGE

section of the Student Guide.

EXPLORE

The EXPLORE section takes place in our facility. Students will be able to

observe a beautiful night sky in the Beazley Planetarium. We start with a trip

to the planets in our solar system to identify the best location for life. To our

current thinking, in order for a planet to sustain life water must exist in all

three states. That eliminates planets like Mercury and Venus as they are too

hot, and planets like Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune as they are

too cold. Earth’s position around the sun is just right. This is known as the

“Goldilocks Zone”. We then will view our main feature “The H2O Cycle”

which will reinforce your lessons on the components of the water cycle. It

includes a review of concepts. Next, using our super big Layered Earth, a

tour of the Chesapeake Bay watershed will focus on the location of divides,

major tributary rivers, bays, lakes and the Atlantic Ocean. The lesson will follow a typical drop of water

from the highlands of the Blue Ridge Mountains, down the James River to the Chesapeake Bay.

EXPLAIN

The EXPLAIN section will take place within our facility. Starting with at Think, Pair and Share, students

will brainstorm how Earth’s water can be turned into water vapor and into a cloud that can cycle water

through precipitation. A demonstration on cloud formation will be made by making a cloud in a bottle

using water, heat energy, and a condensation nuclei. Students will observe the effects of changing air

pressure on the formation of clouds. They will see that some sort of condensation nuclei such as dust,

smoke, or salt is required to form clouds.

A review of the water cycle culminates the visit with a series of “If and Then” scenarios posed to the

class to predict the effects of some sort of change in the system such as an increase in temperature on

the water cycle.

EXTEND/ELABORATE (Post Visit)

Based on Project Wet – Blue River Activity

This EXTEND/ELABORATE activity is designed to involve students in modeling the water cycle, the

concept of a watershed, and further allow them to measure seasonal flow down tributaries.

1. Before class gather the materials from the list and have them ready for this activity.

2. Prepare the learning space (either arrange a classroom by moving desks or by securing a

location with appropriate space to model the watershed). The location represents the field of

the watershed. Water flows downhill via

gravity. If you are setting up indoors mark

the watershed boundaries with chairs or

rope. You can use a chair for the students

to stand on to simulate the slope. If you

are using an exterior area on school

grounds try to find an area with gentle

slope. If that is not possible you will

simulate changing elevation by using the

rope, twine or string to locate regions of

higher elevation. The area adjacent to this

rope represents the Divide, or the

highpoint separating watersheds.

3. Make the main stem of the river by lining

up about 1/3 of your students in a row.

You may wish to have them line up in a

slightly curved line to represent curves in

the river (called meanders).

4. Place a bucket at the low end of the main

stem of the river. The bucket represents

the bay or the drainage basin.

5. As the leader of this demonstration,

you, the teacher, will represent

precipitation in the water cycle. Grab

a handful of beads/beans.

Demonstrate how water flows downhill by handing off beads/beans one at a time starting with

the student furthest from the bucket (basin). This student represents the highest elevation of

land. Once this student is handed the bead/bean, he or she in turn passes it off to the person

next to, and below them, until it reaches the bucket (basin). Repeat this at least a dozen times

with the beads/beans representing a rain storm. Do a 2 count (count 1 then 2) before handing

off to the first student.

“Blue River” Activity Adapted from Project WET Curriculum and Activity Guide,

Generation 2.0 Full credit is given to the Project WET Foundation.

6. Form tributaries of the main river with the remaining 2/3 of the students. Take 1/3 of the class

and make a river/tributary which flows into the main river on one side of the main river. Make a

second tributary on the other side. You may have a helper cloud pass out beads/beans to the

student who is at the highest point of the watershed, you may position yourself near the middle

of the watershed, or if you choose, provide the first person in each of the tributaries and main

stem a supply of the beads/beans that they will pass down the river to reach the basin.

7. Explain to the students that they will demonstrate the seasonal variations of river flow. The

directions for each seasonal flow is described below. Further each season simulation lasts for

one minute. At the end of season, the total number of beads/beans collected with be recorded

on the Student Guide. (Optional – you can post a sign telling the class which season is being

represented.)

a. Winter – When the minute begins, students pass beads/beans slowly, counting to three

before passing it on to the next person. Students will answer why the rate is slow.

(possible answers could include not as much precipitation due to lower temperatures or

that the precipitation came down as snow and didn’t run off)

b. Spring – Snowpack begins to melt. Students pass beads/beans quickly. When a

bead/bean inevitably spills, students leave them on the ground. Students will answer

why the spring flow is higher and what the spilled beads/beans may represent. (Possible

answers may include that the snow is melting plus the warmth may cause more

precipitation. The spilled beads/beans represent when the river flow can’t be contained

– a flood.)

c. Summer – Snowpack has totally melted, stream flow decreases. Pass beads/beans at a

very leisurely pace. Perhaps wait a five count before passing them on. Students will

answer questions about the summer. (Possible answers include the fact that the

summer represents a dry/drought situation)

i. Option – Summer Storm – Pass beads/beans through one of the headwater

streams for 20 seconds. This would represent an isolated storm.

d. Fall – Streams are slow. Students pass beads/beans after counting a two count before

passing it on.

8. Students will make a graph of the stream flow for the seasons after converting the number of

beads/beans to the typical measurements used to determine stream flow: cubic feet per second

or CFS.

EVALUATION (Post Visit)

1. Through discussion and the results of the ENGAGE and EXTEND/ELABORATE experiences,

determine if your students have an accurate understanding of Earth’s position in solar orbit

ensuring our familiar Earth with water in all three states, how the water cycle works and the

concept of watersheds.

2. Ask students to answer these journal prompts to assess their understanding.

a. Earth is sometimes described as the Goldilocks Planet. In what ways is that so? What

would happen if for some reason the Earth switched places with Mars, how would our

Earth change?

b. If there was a global interruption of the water cycle, that is it stopped for a good length

of time, how would life on Earth be affected?

STUDENT GUIDE

Essential Questions




Background

Water is perhaps Earth’s most important resource.

While the total amount of water on Earth is finite,

with water’s very unique physical and chemical

characteristics, is has the ability to be recycled with

the help of the Sun’s energy. Earth’s unique location

with the ‘Goldilocks Zone” or “Habitable Zone” (not

too hot nor too cold) of our solar system ensures

that the temperature extremes of Earth allows water

to simultaneously exist as a liquid (water), a solid (ice

and snow) as well as a gas (water vapor). The Sun’s

energy can change water’s physical state over the

Earth. As the water picks up the Sun’s energy it may change into water vapor through a process known

as evaporation. The water vapor may rise into the atmosphere

where it loses some of the heat and changes back into

water vapor in a process known as condensation. The

condensation of water vapor back to water droplets

may form clouds. Clouds then are transported from

where they form in a process known as advection.

These droplets may then join and fall as precipitation

back to the surface. When droplets of rain, snow, hail or

sleet reach the surface they may ultimately flow back to

large water sources like bays or the ocean through a

process known as runoff or they may sink into the ground and become part of the groundwater.

Source: NASA Precipitation Measurement Mission

Source: e-education.psu.edu

The shape of the Earth’s surface ultimately affects what will happen to the falling precipitation. High

regions such as mountains serve as divides. These divides separate the region into watersheds. A

watershed is an area over which surface water (and the materials it carries) flows to a single collection

place. The joining of small surface flows of water into a larger flow is the formation of tributaries.

Water collected along long stretches of

divides in Virginia’s Blue Ridge

Mountains supplies water to the

Chesapeake Bay. There are five major

rivers in Virginia contributing their

water to the bay. They are the Potomac,

Rappahannock, York, James and the Elizabeth

Rivers. Each river starting with many very

small tributaries near the divide and each

adding their volume to the successive

rivers.

Vocabulary

advection – Advection involves the transfer of heat or matter by the flow of a fluid especially in the

atmosphere.

basin – A basin is a natural depression on the Earth’s surface that typically contains water.

condensation – Condensation is the process of converting vapor into a liquid.

divide – A divide is a ridge of land separating waters flowing into different watersheds.

evaporation – Evaporation is the process where liquids are turned into vapor.

groundwater – Groundwater is the region of the soil where all the spaces between particles of soil are

filled with water that has sunk into the ground.

precipitation – Precipitation is rain, snow, sleet or hail that falls to the ground.

run off – Run off refers to the draining away of water from the surface of an area of land.

transpiration – Transpiration is the process where plants take in water from their roots and release it to

the atmosphere through the leaves.

tributary – A tributary is a smaller stream of flow of water flowing into a larger one.

watershed – A watershed is an area or region drained by a river, river system or other body of water.

Source: Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation

ENGAGE

In the book Water is Water by author Miranda Paul, it is said that “Water moves and changes often –

like children!” In this ENGAGE activity you will perform three experiments dealing with the changes

water makes during the water cycle.

Experiment 1 Evaporation

1. Mark your initials on one clear plastic cup.

2. Fill the cup about 2/3 full.

3. Use the maker to mark the water level.

4. Place the cup with the water near a sunny window or other suitable place your teacher assigns.

5. You will return each hour to mark the water level.

6. Answer the questions below

Question 1. What happened to the level of the water in your cup during the experiment?

Question 2. Where did the water go?

Question 3. What effect would repeating this experiment on a very hot day have? Support your answer.

Experiment 2 Condensation

1. Fill one clear cup about 2/3 of warm water provided by your teacher.

2. Place another clear cup atop your first cup.

3. Carefully place one or two ice cubes atop the upside down cup.

4. Observe and answer the following questions. Remember to go back and check on experiment 1.

Question 4. What did you notice happening inside the upside down cup?

Question 5. Where did the water come from?

Question 6. Why did it form near the ice?

Experiment 3 Precipitation

1. Fill a clear plastic cup about 2/3 full of water.

2. Spray shaving cream on top.

3. Squirt several drops of food coloring into the shaving cream.

4. Observe and answer the questions below. Remember to go back and check on experiment 1.

Question 7. What does the shaving cream represent?

Question 8. What does the food coloring represent?

Question 9. Why does the food coloring fall? Why does the shaving cream float on the water?

Putting it All Together

Time to make connections between the videos you saw, perhaps the Water is Water book, and what you

have experienced in your own life and what you have learned in your experiments. Fill in the table with

your thoughts, impressions or how it affects you on each of the three processes of the water cycle.

From Book or Video In My Life In the Experiment

EXPLORE

The planetarium is a unique place to bring the world of water to study. In

your visit you toured the solar system and learned that because of where

Earth is located in orbit around the sun water can exist as a liquid, solid and

gas. You watched the H2O cycle and got a chance to view the water cycle

in action. And you know from the rap song that water “keeps on movin’ –

movin’ all around.

What is the source of the energy that keeps it moving?

What is advection? How would the water cycle be different if

there was no advection?

We looked at the Chesapeake Bay’s watershed using the planetarium’s Layered Earth application.

What makes the Chesapeake Bay so special?

How big is this watershed?

What are some of the rivers that contribute water to this watershed?

EXPLAIN

In the EXPLAIN activity in the planetarium we made a cloud in a bottle. As you recall it was a sealed

system. The rubber glove on the jar was moved inward and outward.

How did moving the glove in the jar affect the cycle?

What helped the cloud form in this model?

Where would sources of this type of material come from in our real

world?

EXTEND/ELABORATE

You have learned that we all live in a watershed. In this EXTEND/ELABORATE activity you will model

how water flows in a watershed and experience hos seasonal variations affect the amount of runoff

flowing to the basin or ocean.

A watershed is an area of land that drains water towards a common river. You can trace the boundaries

of a watershed on a map by tracing a line along the highest elevations. This line is known as a divide.

Divides separate watersheds.

In this model of a watershed beads or beans will be used to represent water running off the land. You

will become part of a river; either the main stem of the river or one of the smaller rivers flowing into it

known as a tributary. When you get a bead or a bean you will need to pass it “downhill” to the next

person in the stream. You will continue to pass them until the last one is dropped into the bucket. The

bucket represent the lake, bay or ocean. When instructed by your teacher the last person to drop the

bead/bean into the bucket will count them up and report the numbers to the class. Everyone should

record the totals in the correct table.

Your data (#of beads/beans) represents a sample of the flow on the river at a given time. Weather

changes daily and with the seasons. The amount of water flowing down a river can change.

Scientists record the flow of water along a river in a unit called a cubic foot per second (CFS). For our

experiment we will take a count of the items for a one minute simulation. To calculate the CFS multiply

your value by 10.

Season #Beads/Beans # Beads/Beans x 10 = total CFS

Winter

Spring

Summer

Fall

Analysis Questions

1. Which season had the greatest stream flow?

2. Which season seemed to have the least streamflow?

3. If a bead/bean were dropped during the simulation, what would that represent in the real

world? Support your response.

4. Why do some seasons seem to support greater surface flows?

5. Earth’s climate seems to be rising every year. Since the water cycle is powered by the Sun’s

energy, what would you expect to happen to our climate in terms of a water cycling?

A graph of stream flow is known as a hydrograph. Recording stations on rivers record stream flow and

the data is used to determine whether unusually wet periods may cause flooding of the river or

unusually dry periods may result in a low water/drought conditions. You will make a hydrograph of the

data you collected in the simulation below.

You can see an actual hydrograph for a gaging station on our rivers by going to:

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/rt .

500 Beads/ = 5000 CFS Minute





250 Beads/ =2500 CFS Minute





Hydrogaph for OUR simulated Blue River

WINTER

SPRING

SUMMER

FALL

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/rt

EVALUATE

In your visit to the Beazley Planetarium to partake in the Water, Water Everywhere lesson you got to

view our planetarium sky and took a trip out to the solar system to see how Earth’s position is just right

to keep water in all three states simultaneously. You saw our Feature, The Water Cycle, with its catchy

rap song, and took a tour of Virginia’s watersheds. You also had opportunities to experiment with the

water cycle and watersheds in your classroom. Using all you have learned you will have a discussion on

the Essential Questions:




Next read the journal prompts. Place your responses in your journals for evaluation.

1. Earth is sometimes described as the Goldilocks Planet. In what ways is that so? What would

happen if for some reason the Earth switched places with Mars, how would our Earth change?

2. If there was a global interruption of the water cycle, that is it stopped for a good length of time,

how would life on Earth be affected?

a teacher resource guide for · lesson overview the education resource was developed using the 5e...

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