The Water Cycle

Our class is studying weather as our current science theme unit! We have been learning about types of weather, factors that affect the weather (such as air pressure, humidity, wind, and temperature), and clouds. We are also learning big words like "meteorologist," "precipitation," "condensation," and "evaporation." This week we learned about the water cycle. Today we learned a song and made a project to help us remember the water cycle. The song goes to the tune of "She'll be coming round the mountain:"

"Water travels in a cycle yes it does,
Water travels in a cycle yes it does.
It goes up as evaporation,
Forms a cloud as condensation,
Then comes down as precipitation, yes it does!"

Our project is pictured below. The yellow bead represents the sun, heating up the water in lakes, rivers, the ocean, etc (the dark blue bead). The clear bead represents water vapor/evaporation as the water is heated. The white bead represents clouds/condensation, and the light blue bead represents precipitation, changing the water vapor back into water, collecting back in the rivers, lakes, oceans, and starting the cycle all over again! This afternoon we created the model below then moved the beads around the pipe cleaner as we sang the song to practice reciting the water cycle! This bead bracelet is coming home today along with a copy of the song and a page explaining the bracelet so you can ask your child to explain the water cycle to you!