Understanding by Design: WATER CYCLE (Grade 2)

Title: Climate/Season Subject: SCIENCE Level: Grade 2

Topic: Water Cycle Designer: Alpuerto, Julius Cesar F. BEED- General Education

Standards:
WIDA English Proficiency Standard 4 Listening: English language learners communicate information, ideas and
concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of science. 
Common Core Standard RI.2.3: Describe the connection between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or
concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text.

Common Core Standard RI.2.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 2 topic or
subject area.

Common Core Standard RI.2.7: Explain how specific images (e.g., a diagram showing how a machine works)
contribute to and clarify a text.

 Common Core Standard W.2.8 Recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources
to answer a question.

STAGE 1 - DESIRED RESULTS

Content Objectives:
*Students will recognize and identify
Language Objectives: the patterns in the water cycle.
 *Students will be able to define the terms,
condensation, evaporation and Enduring Understandings:
precipitation. *Students will understand that weather
*Students will be able to retell the steps of changes in different patterns.
the water cycle to their classmates through
singing. Essential Questions:
*Why does weather change in patterns,
such as a cycle?

Point of the topic:

Water cycle essentially explains the processes water goes through to get from evaporation to rain to
our drinking water. Teaching the water cycle for kids will help them better understand
the importance of our drinking water supply as well as important processes that the earth goes through.

STAGE 2 - ASSESTMENT EVIDENCE

Performance Task:
*The students will be creating a water cycle diorama at home.
*Review of the water cycle components will be done in class and a cut and paste activity will be
created that the students can use as a guide when creating their diorama.
*Directions and project requirements will be sent home two weeks in advance from their
presentation date.
*Guidelines are as follows:
-All three steps need be included and labeled: evaporation, condensation, and precipitation.
-The diorama needs to be 3D.
-There needs to be arrows showing the direction of the water cycle.
-Students need to be creative and use various kinds of  materials to create their diorama.
-This will be assessed formally by the teacher and informally by their peers.
Goal(s):
*Each student will create their own water
cycle diorama. This diorama will be
Key Criteria:
presented in class.
*All three steps need be included and labeled:
evaporation, condensation, and precipitation.
Role:
*The diorama needs to be 3D.
*The students role is be the creator of their
*There needs to be arrows showing the
own water cycle depiction and present their
direction of the water cycle.
creation to the class.
*Students need to be creative and use various
kinds of  materials to create their diorama.
Audience:
*Both the teacher and the class will see each
student's project.

Situation:
Other Evidence:
*This project will be completed
*A rubric will be used assess the diorama.
individually.
*The cut and paste activity and the two group
presentations (4 corner vocabulary chart and
Performance:
water cycle song performance) will be taken
*The student will come to the front of the
as another form of evaluation of students'
class and show off their diorama.
understanding of the water cycle and its three
*They will tell the class what they used to
major steps.
make their project as well as show where
each step of the water cycle is located and
the direction the cycle travels in.

STAGE 3 - LEARNING PLAN

Learning Plan
Where are your students headed? 
Where have they been? 
How will you make sure the students know where they are going?
This is the first lesson in the unit and is therefore their first exposure to weather in 2nd grade.
*The students will start with this lesson on the water cycle and will continue heading to
learning about the four seasons, bad weather, and various weather tools.
*The students will know where they are going based on the unit introduction and the "We are
learning" statements presented at the beginning of each lesson.

How will you hook students at the beginning of the unit? 

Hook (for all students):
1. Build background knowledge and the words “water” and “cycle.”
2. Students will do a think-pair-share activity with individual questions.
3. Questions will be displayed one-by-one on the board.
            *What do you use water for?
            *Where can water be found?
            *Where have you seen the word cycle before?
            *What does cycle mean? 
What events will help students experience and explore the
big idea and questions in the unit? 
How will you equip them with needed skills and knowledge?
*The students will view a water cycle video, create a 4 corner water cycle vocabulary chart,
perform the water cycle song, complete a cut and paste activity, and finally create a water
cycle diorama at the end of the unit. These activities will help students experience and
explore the unit essential questions and enduring understandings that focus on the water
cycle.
*The students will be equipped with the skills and knowledge needed to answer these
questions through class discussion, small group work, and various technology sources such
as the water cycle video and water cycle song.

How will you help students to exhibit and self-evaluate their growing skills, knowledge, and
understanding throughout the unit? 
*Students will self-evaluate their growing skills with the completion of their water cycle
diorama at the end of the unit.
*They will also continue to grow their skills through the extension activity of recording how
long puddles take to evaporate after it rains.

How will you tailor and otherwise personalize the learning 

plan to optimize the engagement and effectiveness of ALL 
students, without compromising the goals of the unit?
Differentiation:
*The teacher will pull a small group of students who need support during the group work
where they are creating the vocabulary charts. The small group will pick one word to work
on with the teacher to prepare for their presentation.
*The teacher will pull a small group of students who need support during the cut and paste
activity. The teacher will show the students more pictures that depict the steps of the water
cycle to help support them during this activity.

RESURSES

Resources:
*Drippy the Raindrop Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tugi8P-QWkc 
*Water Cycle song lyrics
*4 corner chart handout
*Water cycle poster
*Coloring supplies
*Water Cycle cut and paste worksheet
*Water cycle cutouts
*Scott Foresman 2nd Grade Science book