SC.5.E.7.1: Create a model to explain the parts of the water cycle. The jar cloud…

Earth and Sky at Home Grades K–5

Make a rainbow on the kitchen floor, grow crystals on a windowsill and build a cloud in a jar. Three classic home experiments that actually work, with the real science explained for grown-ups.

• Where do rainbows come from? 45 min, plus 10 min outside on a sunny day

  Children split sunlight into colours with a glass of water, test whether the water is what makes the rainbow, and make their own rainbow with a hose mist. They finish able to explain that white light is a mix of colours that water bends apart.

• How do crystals grow? 40 min to set up, then 5 min a day for 5 to 7 days

  Children watch the grown-up make strong salt, Epsom salt and sugar solutions, set out dishes and a string, then check them every day for a week. They finish able to explain that crystals form when dissolved particles line up as the water leaves.

• How does a cloud form? 40 min

  Children watch the grown-up set up two jars of hot water with ice on top, add a wisp of smoke to one, and compare the clouds. They finish able to explain that clouds form when moist air cools and water collects on tiny specks.

Our Living Planet Grade 4

Air, water, land and living things, and how each one depends on the others. Students build a sealed jar ecosystem to keep for a month and catch the water cycle in a bag on the window.

• Can a jar keep itself alive? 50–60 min to build, then 5 min check-ins twice a week for 4 weeks, and a 30 min Reveal and Act

  Each team builds a small world of soil, water, air and plants inside a clear jar, seals it, and keeps an observation log for four weeks beside an open jar built the same way. Students explain how water and air are used again and again inside the sealed jar, and why it still needs light from outside.

• Where does rain come from? 45–60 min, plus a 5 min look later the same day or the next morning

  Students tape a zip-top bag of blue water to a sunny window and another to a shady wall, and catch a cold cup 'sweating' in the room. They follow the water from the bottom of the bag to the clear drops at the top, and explain how the Sun, air and clouds bring rain back down.

Printable practice for SC.5.E.7.1

These pages practise a closely related idea; the match to SC.5.E.7.1 is partial.

• Our Living Planet workbook included with the unit

  2 English-support pages, 2 practice pages, 2 readings, 1 word wall, 1 unit review, 1 unit test, with answer keys.

• The Water Cycle, Start to Finish workbook included with the unit

  2 English-support pages, 2 practice pages, 2 readings, 1 word wall, 1 unit review, 1 unit test, with answer keys.

• Weather Detectives workbook included with the unit

  2 practice pages, 2 readings, 1 word wall, 1 English-support page, 1 unit review, 1 unit test, with answer keys.

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