1. Jennifer Murphy, email: j.g.murphy@uea.ac.uk
Demonstrating Climate Change and the Water Cycle to Fifth Grade Students
Jennifer Murphy,
School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich U.K. NR4 7TJ
The focus of this activity is to provide students with the vocabulary, concepts, and context to understand the impact of climate change on the hydrological cycle. Students make observations throughout a series of demonstrations and activities regarding how temperature affects the phases of water and connect these ideas to the
physical environment. An additional goal is
to have students consider ways in which
they are dependent on their environment,
and ways in which their actions affect it.

2. Climate Change and the
Water Cycle 1

3. Greenhouse Effect 2

4. Greenhouse Effect on Earth
atmosphere
Without the atmosphere, the average temperature on earth would be 5 oF instead of 60 oF 3

5. Global Warming on Earth
Extra gases, like CO2, that humans add to the atmosphere makes the greenhouse effect stronger and leads to global warming 4

6. A. Greenhouse Experiment
Shine light on surface and measure temperature
Add a ‘greenhouse’ and observe the temperature change
Record your observations on the worksheet and graph the results 5

7. States of Matter
Solid Liquid Gas 6

8. States of Water Solid Liquid Gas
What are come other examples of water in the
environment in any of its three phases or states?
What do we call the processes that change water
from one state to another? 7

9. State Changes of Water Solid Gas sublimation freezing condensation
melting
evaporation
Liquid
What do we call the processes that change water
from one state to another? 8

10. B. Water Vapor Experiment
Fill a glass with a cold drink
Examine liquid on outside of glass
What color is it? Where did it come from?
How can you explain it? 9

11. The Water Cycle 10

12. transport
The Water Cycle
precipitation
evaporation
runoff 11

13. Most of California’s rain and snow falls in the mountains
California uses more fresh water per person than any other state
But most of the people who need water live in the valley or near the coast, where there’s not very much rain 12

14. Photograph of California taken from Space
Oakland
downloaded from 13

15. California needs snow in the winter to have water in the summer
Data from the USGS
Streamflow into Reservoir 14

16. C. Climate Change and the Water Cycle
Four stations will be set up:
two are heated, two are chilled, two have water, two have ice
Observe the phase of the water in each container and record what processes are going on in the container
Complete the questions on the worksheet
Ice
Water 15