5-ESS2-1: Develop a model using an example to describe ways the geosphere…

The Water Cycle, Start to Finish Grades 3–6 · partly supports this outcome

A water-drop journey game around eight stations of the room, a 100-square model of where all of Earth's water really is, from USGS data, and a sealed bag of water on a sunny window that shows the Sun driving the whole cycle. Two of the three lessons need nothing but printed sheets.

• Where has the water in your glass been? 45–60 min

  Every student becomes a water drop and travels between eight stations around the room (ocean, cloud, glacier, river, lake, groundwater, plant and animal), spinning a printed spinner to find out what happens next and logging each step. The class then compares journeys and finds that the water cycle is a tangle of paths, not one neat circle.

• Can you make a mini water cycle? 45 min, plus 5-minute look-backs later that day and the next morning

  Teams seal a little coloured water in two zip-top bags, tape one to a sunny window and one in the shade, and watch water evaporate, condense into drops and run back down. Comparing the two bags gives the evidence that the Sun drives the water cycle and gravity brings the water back.

Weather Detectives Grade 5 · partly supports this outcome

Warm winter winds, the hottest spot in the schoolyard and the last frost of spring. Students measure weather fairly and find out why farmers care so much about it.

• Why does a chinook feel like spring in January? 50–60 min

  Students test how moving air speeds up melting, then use a tabletop mountain and a few simple numbers to follow a parcel of air over the Rockies and find out why it arrives warm. They compare the chinook with similar winds around the world.

Printable practice for 5-ESS2-1

• 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.

• 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.

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