At a glance
The Water Cycle is a 60 or 75 minute workshop for grades 2 to 9. Students describe where water comes from and the stages of its cycle, how rare it is and what it is made of, then safely create a little storm in a test tube heated by a burner.
Yuck, we drink water that is billions of years old!
Where does the water on Earth come from? How does it change?
Students discover the stages of the water cycle, how rare fresh water is, what water is made of, where it comes from and at what temperature it boils, through fun little experiments. Then they become real chemists and safely create a small storm in a test tube heated by a burner!
For 15 more minutes:
Add an amazing burner experiment to understand how pressure affects the boiling of water.
Learning goals (elementary)
- Describe where the water on Earth comes from.
- Describe the stages of the water cycle (evaporation, condensation, precipitation, runoff and infiltration).
- Identify natural sources of fresh water (streams, lakes, rivers) and of salt water (seas, oceans).
- Test how air pressure acts on water (compression, displacement, rising temperature).
