Grade Level:  Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth

Subjects:  Language Arts, Math, Science, Technology

Learner Outcomes:
    The students will:

• generate a list of ways that water is used.
• use a computer to locate information about the water cycle and clouds.
• explain how water moves through a cycle.
• enter pertinent vocabulary words/meanings to their science journal.
• draw, color, and label the parts of the water cycle.
• draw, label, and explain different cloud types.
• write an informative paragraph and illustrate by inserting a picture from a cloud site.
• Define humidity and relative humidity.

Materials:  chart paper, markers, pictures of various land and water features (mountain, valley, hill, island, desert, forest, ocean, lake, stream, etc.), state, country and world map, glass of water, writing paper and pencil, 1 x 12 inch strips of light blue construction paper (at least 18 for each student), clear bottle with a small mouth, small amount of very hot water, one large ice cube, blank calendar for each student, a copy of the book Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain.

Technology Tools/Courseware:   computer with internet connection, browser of choice, laser disc player, Windows on Science, Encarta Encyclopedia

Teacher Notes:

• Continue with charts started at the beginning of the unit
• Add fiction and nonfiction books about clouds and the water cycle to the classroom library
• Make arrangements with a colleague or with an online collaborative project to share information throughout the lesson.
• In  this lesson students should have the opportunity to make a rain gauge and collect rain water; therefore, the rain gauge should be made before beginning the lesson.
• Refer to the daily weather calendar from lessons one and two when doing procedure number two.
• Continue to add new words to the concept map started in lesson one.

1.  In groups of four students, construct a rain gauge and collect rain water.

2.  For at least two weeks prior to this lesson, have students chart the daily weather on a blank calendar using the standard symbols found in the newspaper and used by meteorologists for clouds, rain, snow, wind, etc.  Pay special attention to the clouds each day and estimate the cloud cover (see diagram below).  Use the words clear (0%), scattered clouds (25%), partly cloudy (50%), mostly cloudy (75%), and overcast (100%) to describe cloud cover.  As they observe cloud cover, they should pay attention to the direction the clouds rotate and predict what weather patterns are created.
 

3.  In cooperative groups, students discuss and prepare a list of ways water is used .  A speaker for each group presents their list to the class and the group recorder records on chart paper for a whole class list.  After all groups have presented their information, the teacher directs students to work in their cooperative groups and prioritize the use of water from most important to least important.

4.  The class will share their prioritized list of water uses with a class from another part of the state, country, or the world and ask them to share their list through a collaborative online project .  Then compare and contrast the two lists.

5.  Using a world map, students locate large bodies of water around the world.  Then each student selects one of the bodies of water.  Research, using the Internet and other sources, to find out what effect their body of water has on weather conditions, agriculture, land forms, recreation, water supply, etc.  Using a word processor, students type their reports and bind them into a class book entitled Water Around the World.

6.  In their science journal, each student responds to these questions:  How much water do you think is on the Earth?  How much of it do you think can be used by humans?  Then go to  Earth's Water Budget and find out about the amount of water on the Earth and how much is available for use by humans.

7.  Students compare the actual amounts to their estimated amounts in their science journals.  Also tell how you feel about the comparisons.  Was the estimated amount close to the actual amount?

8.  Find out about how the Earth's water supply is replaced.  Graph the Water Supply of the World.

9.  In the science journal, students write the following vocabulary words:  condensation , evaporation , transpiration , and precipitation .  Write a definition for each and tell where each occurs in the water cycle.  Answer the question, "How does transpiration differ from evaporation?  Go to the dictionary for help.

10.  Draw and label the diagram of the water cycle .

11.  Make a water cycle chain and use it to explain the water cycle to younger children in your school.  Use strips of light blue construction paper.  Each strip makes a link of the chain and contains one part of the water cycle.  Connect the links to form a continuous chain with no beginning and no end.

12.  Study the different types of clouds .  Then in their science journal, students draw and label each type of cloud and write a brief explanation of each one including size, shape, color, where in the sky they are located, and what type of weather each one produces.

13.  Begin a class discussion on what clouds are and how they are formed.  To help students better understand how a cloud forms, conduct this demonstration.  Pour 1/2 inch of very hot water into a clear small mouthed bottle. Immediately cover the mouth of the bottle with an ce cube.  Tell the students to watch and observe what happens.  (The sides of the bottle clouds up).  Ask the students to explain what is happening.  (The hot water evaporates and rises, then meets with the cold air and condenses).  In their science journal, students draw, label, and write a paragraph explaining what happened during the experiment.

14.  Working in groups of 4, each student selects a cloud type and makes a triarama depicting a weather scene with their particular cloud type.  The group then puts the triaramas together to make a four-sided display.  Each student writes and illustrates an informative paragraph using a picture from the cloud site.  Include cloud characteristics, what kind of weather the cloud signals, and where it is located in the atmosphere.  Display the paragraphs with the triaramas.

15.  Show the class a picture of an ocean and a desert area.  Ask, "Over which area would you expect to find more clouds?  (More clouds would be found over the ocean because evaporating water and condensing water vapor form clouds.)

16.  Go to the dictionary and enter in the science journal the meaning of humidity and relative humidity.

17.  Using the calendar from procedure #1 and the percent of cloud cover for each day, students find the range, median, and mode for the percent of cloud cover during the observed period of time.

18.  Read the title, Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain, and ask what type of weather will the book concentrate on.  Ask students to listen for weather words as you read the book aloud.  After reading the story, make a list of the weather works heard.  Ask students to respond to the question:  If there was a drought in your area, what would you do to cut back on using water?

19.  Ask students to describe current weather conditions.  What kinds of weather do they like and dislike?  Why?  Using a word processing program, students write a description of their favorite type of weather:  rain, snow, sunny, drizzle, cloudy, etc.  Explain how it looks, how they feel, what they hear.  The description can be in the form of a paragraph, poem, or song which they will present to the class.

Modifications:

• For students who have physical disabilities, they can dictate science journal entries and other writings to the teacher, a peer, or an adult classroom helper.
• Cooperative groups can be arranged so that students with learning disabilities are grouped with students who are on level or advanced.

• Keep a weather journal for one month and emphasize the daily precipitation.  Graph the data.
• Write or type, using a word processing program, a report about how cloud seeding is used to affect weather.
• Find out about Native American rituals based on the need for rain and give an oral report to the class.
• Name, describe, and draw another type of "cycle."  Examples:  frog, butterfly, dishwasher, washing machine, seasons, calendar year, a week.
• Explore and write/type ideas about other ways the words condense and condensation are used, e.g., What is condensed soup?  What is condensed milk?  What is a condensed book?
• Research how the local geography affects clouds and humidity in your area.
• Go to "America's 13 Most Endangered Rivers.  Research to find out why the Coal River in West Virginia was rated sixth on the list.

• science journal
• rubric for triaroma/informative paragraph project
• participation in class discussions and cooperative groups
• pictures and drawings
• http://intranet.cps.k12.il.us/Assessments/Ideas_and_Rubrics/Rubric_Bank/rubric_bank.html

West Virginia Instructional Goals and Objectives:

Language Arts: 4.13, 4.14, 4.16, 4.17, 4.36, 4.40, 4.50, 4.51, 4.55, 4.85, 5.2, 5.4, 5.5, 5.62 5.64, 5.176, 6.35, 6.54, 6.56

Math: 4.30, 4.57, 5.24, 5.52, 6.24, 6.25

Science: 4.5, 4.6, 4.10, 4.11, 4.13, 4.24, 4.26, 4.27, 4.28, 4.29, 4.32, 4.54, 4.68, 4.80, 4.94, 4.99, 5.1, 5.14, 5.17, 5.20, 5.21, 5.29, 5.30, 5.49, 5.79, 6.10, 6.16, 6.21, 6.26, 6.98

Technology: 4.94, 4.95, 4.99, 4.101, 5.180, 5.187, 6.86, 6.90, 6.98

References:
"Water, Our Most Precious Resource" ( National Geographic, August 1980 Volume 158, No.2, p.144)
"The Water Cycle:  Our Water Carnival" (National Resources Education Series)
Teaching Physical Science Through Children's Literature (Terrific Science Press)
Investigations in Science - Weather (Creative Teaching Press)
Weather/Science and Technology for Children (National Science Resources Center)
Exploring Earth's Weather (Prentice Hall)

Additional Resources:
Understanding clouds   http://www.usatoday.com/weather/wcloud0.htm
Water Cycle   http://teacher.scholastic.com/lessonrepro/lessonplans/rainydays.htm
Three Phases of Water   http:/www.usatoday.com/weather/wwatphse.htm

Student Resources:
Weather Glossary http://www.glacier.rice.edu/misc/glossary.html
Drought by Christopher Lampton (Millbrook Press)
The Cloud Book by Tomie dePaola  (Holiday House)
The Science Book of Weather by Neil Ardley (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich)
Earth's Water   http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/mearth.html

Internet Links:
Clouds and Precipitation : http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/cld/home.rxml
Clouds http://vortex.plymouth.edu/clouds.html
Forecasting Precipitation http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/fcst/prcp/frnt.rxml

Carol Mathis	cmathis@access.k12.wv.us	Lakewood Elementary
Donna Hebb	dhebb@access.k12.wv.us	2089 Lakewood Dr.
Yvonne Martin	ymartin@access.k12.wv.us	St. Albans, WV 25177

 
 

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