Patricia Crance

SOL: Earth Patterns, Cycles, and Change

3.9 The student will investigate and understand the water cycle and its relationship to life
on Earth. Key concepts include:
b) the energy from the sun drives the water cycle;
c) the water cycle involves several processes;

Essential Questions:
1.
2.
3.
4.

What is the water cycle?

What are the parts of the water cycle?
How does the water cycle work?
Why is the water cycle important?

Essential Knowledge:

75% of the surface of the Earth is water. Without water we could not survive.
The Sun is the driving force of the Earths weather.
The major source of energy which powers the water cycle is the Sun.
The water cycle has no start and no end, it is always happening!
Vocabulary words:
1. Water Cycle: The change to water when it evaporates into the air, condenses into a
cloud, and then precipitates down to earth.
2. Precipitation: water droplets fall from the atmosphere in the form of rain, sleet, snow,
or hail.
3. Condensation: the cooling of water in the atmosphere changing gas to a liquid.
4. Transpiration: The passage of water vapor from a plant to the atmosphere.
5. Evaporation: the process that occurs when water changes from a liquid to a gas
caused by heat.
6. Run-off: rainfall that is not absorbed by soil and travels to the waterways.

Text Set:
Guided Reading
This book is great for guided reading because it gives students a general
overview of whats important about the water cycle through the eyes of a
raindrop. Its a fun story students will enjoy and gives the teacher an opportunity
to point out important things at the beginning of the unit.
Ward, E. (2000). Follow a raindrop: The water cycle. Scholastic Inc.

This rhythmic book takes the whole class on an adventure around the world.
The author does a fantastic job of ting the water cycle into the story in a
whimsical way. It would be fun for the students to find those parts and build
knowledge together.
McKinney, B. S. (1998). A drop around the world. Dawn Publications.

Patricia Crance
Independent Reading
This book is perfect for independent reading because it has fun little
side bubbles of information that students would enjoy. It has all the
essential information which is great for reinforcement.
Branley, F. M. (1997). Down comes the rain. HarperCollins.

This cook gives students more reinforcement of the water cycle

through a look at prehistoric times. Its best for independent
exploration because it explores more topics than the class needs
information on.
Wells, R. E. (2006). Did a dinosaur drink this water? Morton
Grove, IL: Albert Whitman & Company.

This book would be a good expansion of the water cycle

knowledge. It gives the child a broader view of how water moves
on earth to make it to the oceans.
Dorros, A. (2000). Follow the water from brook to ocean. USA:
HarperCollins.

Small Group
This book provides students with wonderful imagery and information. It works
best as a small group read because some of the words students might find
challenging and having the teachers assistance will make the reading smoother.
Students will need more than one day to complete this book since its about 50
pages.
Berger, G. & Berger, M. (2001). Water, water everywhere. Ideals Publication.

This provides an interesting view of the water cycle. Its from the point of
view of a snowflake. It would make a nice small group read because of the
colorful language.
Waldman, N. (2003). The snowflake: A water cycle story. Minneapolis, MN:
Millbrook Press.

Patricia Crance

This book would provide a closer look at water as it moves about on

Earth. It would be great after learning about the water cycles main
components. It looks like it would be long so reading little bits at a
time in a small group might be the best way to really dig into the
information.
Hooper, M. (1998). The drop in my drink: The story of water on our
planet. New York, NY: Penguin Group.

Extra Information:
The Following worksheets would be given out uncolored and with the red words missing. This
would allow students to fill in the information as it was given to them. The vocabulary sheet
would be completely blank allowing students to create pictures that helped them most. These
were retrieved from Teacherspayteachers.com.

Patricia Crance

Patricia Crance

Patricia Crance