1. The Water Cycle
SC.5.E.7.1 Create a model to explain the parts of the water cycle. Water can be a gas, a liquid, or a solid and can go back and forth from one state to another.
SC.5.E.7.2 Recognize that the ocean is an integral part of the water cycle and is connected to all of Earth's water reservoirs via evaporation and precipitation processes.

2. Problem of the Day - 1
Rain, sleet, snow, and hail are all examples of what?
Precipitation
Evaporation
Condensation
Groundwater

3. Predict: Parts of the Water Cycle
Ask students to label the diagram and predict the parts of the water cycle. Have them use the vocabulary on the left if needed.

4. Vocabulary for Today What you should know… Water Cycle Evaporation
Solid
Liquid
Gas
Water Cycle
Evaporation
Condensation
Precipitation
Water vapor
Run Off

5. What is the water cycle?
Watch this video from NASA Earth Science Week called Water, Water Everywhere!
Why is water so important?
What is the source of energy that causes the water cycle?
What kind of model is this?
Have you ever looked up at the sky and wished you could touch one of the clouds? Believe it or not, you have probably been closer to a cloud than you think. If you have ever traveled through a blanket of fog covering the ground, you have moved through a cloud! Clouds are really nothing more than billions of tiny drops of water. When these drops collect in the sky, they form clouds. When they form close to the ground, they create fog. Any time moisture in the air forms tiny droplets of water that look like smoke or fog, a cloud is created. When you see your breath on a cold day, or steam over a boiling pot, you are seeing a tiny cloud!
Clouds come in a variety of shapes and sizes, but they are all made up of water. Whether they look like white cotton candy or gray, wispy feathers, all clouds begin the same way. They all start out as bodies of water on the surface of the Earth.
So, how does water on the ground turn into a cloud? And where do clouds go once they are formed? Scientists have already found the answers to these and other questions about clouds. They also know that this process is very important to Earth. Watch the video to learn more.
NASA —Earth Science Week: Water, Water Everywhere! available at:
(about 6.5 minutes)

6. What is the water cycle?
Continuous movement of water between Earth’s surface and the atmosphere
Water Cycle Image from pmm.nasa.gov
Scientists call the path water takes from the ground to the sky and back again the Water Cycle.

7. What are the three repeating processes that cause the water cycle?
Condensation
Precipitation
Evaporation

8. Evaporation
Heat from sunlight causes liquid water to change into invisible water vapor
Water vapor is water in the form of a gas
Plants and animals also release water vapor into the air
Watch this time-lapsed video of water evaporating from a sidewalk. This actually took about 20 minutes.
Video available at:
Every hour of the day, the sun is shining on some part of the Earth. As it shines, it provides a lot of light and heat. This heat warms up the water on the ground of the Earth, turning it from liquid water to a gas or vapor. The vapor rises from the ground and rejoins the earth’s atmosphere. This first step of the water cycle is called evaporation.

9. Condensation
Clouds are formed when water vapor cools and condenses into tiny liquid water droplets
Most cloud droplets form around dust particles in the air
Clouds found higher than meters above Earth’s surface are made mostly of ice crystals
Video available at:
All over the world, water is heated until it becomes vapor and rises into the sky. Along with countless drops of water, our atmosphere is full of tiny particles. Some of these particles come from pollution, and others are simply dust. The water vapors collect around the particles and from larger droplets. This is the second step of the Water cycle, it is called condensation. As more and more drops of water condense around particles, a cloud begins to form.
Remember the temperature of the air determines how much water vapor the air can hold. Warmer air holds more water vapor than colder air. If warm, humid air cools, the water may condense and fall to Earth’s surface.

10. Precipitation
When water droplets in clouds grow and become too heavy to stay in the atmosphere, precipitation forms
Water or a form of ice falls from the atmosphere to Earth’s surface
The temperature and humidity of the air affect how clouds form. As air cools, water vapor will condense. If there is enough water vapor in the air as it cools, clouds form from tiny water droplets. Clouds can not remain in the sky forever. As the size and number of water drops grow, the cloud becomes too heavy and must shed some of its weight. The water droplets begin to fall to the ground as rain. If the water drops freeze before reaching the ground, we get snow, sleet, or hail. Whether frozen like snow, or wet like rain, water falling from clouds is called precipitation. This is the third and final step of the water cycle.
Rain falls in the form of drops. Cloud droplets are too tiny to fall to Earth. Hail is precipitation in the form of balls or chunks of ice. Sleet is frozen or partly frozen rain. Snow falls from clouds when tiny ice crystals stay frozen as they fall.
71% of the Earth is covered in water, so most of our precipitation returns directly to lakes, ponds, oceans, and streams. Some water lands on the ground and soaks into the earth. This water is called groundwater. Groundwater can make its way back to streams and rivers by filtering through rock and sand, or it can used by trees and plants.
Once it is back under the heat of the sun, the water will evaporate. It begins its oath to becoming a cloud once again!

11. Water Cycle Evaporation Condensation Precipitation
Student will complete the flipbook recording the definition and a minimum of two facts.
Water Cycle Flipbook

12. State. Reason. Evidence.
Rain, sleet, snow, and hail are all examples of what?
Precipitation
Evaporation
Condensation
Groundwater

13. Problem of the Day – Day 2
Students will write what the question is looking for and record the answer they currently think. Which of the following BEST describes a way in which water moves in the water cycle?
Water falls from the sky as rain. It stays where it falls until it evaporates.
Water falls from the sky as snow. As the snow melts, the water runs up to Earth’s mountains.
Water falls from the sky as rain. The water then flows downhill.
Water falls from the sky as hail. The hail is eventually buried in the ground.

14. What are the three repeating processes that cause the water cycle?
Watch this computer model of the water cycle.
Look and listen for the descriptions of precipitation, evaporation, and condensation.
Thirstin’s Water Cycle available at:
Take a moment to review your water cycle chart and check your answers. Discuss with your shoulder partner.
The plant and animals of the Earth need water to live. We live on a big planet, and we depend on the water cycle to get water everywhere it is needed. Without water evaporating, forming clouds through condensation, and falling to the ground as precipitation, we would have a lot of work to do. We would have to find a way to move water all over the world!
Stop here…. We will continue with this slide and watch the video Day 2.

15. Study Jams Water Cycle Video
Study Jams

16. Draw and label your own model of the water cycle

17. Water Cycle Model Directions
Include the following:
The states of water in each part of the water cycle
Why the water changes state
The name of each process in the water cycle
Arrows to show how water moves through the cycle

18. State. Reason. Evidence. – Day 2
Students will write what the question is looking for and record the answer they currently think. Which of the following BEST describes a way in which water moves in the water cycle?
Water falls from the sky as rain. It stays where it falls until it evaporates.
Water falls from the sky as snow. As the snow melts, the water runs up to Earth’s mountains.
Water falls from the sky as rain. The water then flows downhill.
Water falls from the sky as hail. The hail is eventually buried in the ground.

19. What is the water cycle? Essential Question *** Reminder use your
vocabulary words.