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I love creating interactive, hands-on activities to engage students. Teaching the parts of the water cycle is no exception. Whether you teach 2nd grade or 4th grade you are sure to find a fun way to engage your students without having to resort to just printable worksheets with these water cycle activities below.
Creating a Water Cycle Phenomenon
Over the years, students have created the water cycle in a bag activity as a way to represent the water cycle. However, I like to create a phenomenon as a way to engage my students and then get them to explore the steps. To do this, I set up a terrarium or bowl with a landscape created from play-doh, along with a lake in the middle. I then layer the play-doh carefully with cotton balls so that students can see that they are dry when they go in and get wet during the process.
Then I set up a lamp to represent the sun (keep in mind that most bulbs are LED now and will not produce the heat you’ll need. Instead, you’ll need an incandescent bulb) and cover the terrarium or bowl with plastic wrap. The students notice the setup and wonder what I’m doing. As condensation starts to occur, I’ll ask students questions such as, why they think it’s happening, what’s causing it, and so on. Then, we will discuss each of the steps and what each part represents in the cycle. This is a great way to get them thinking before you teach the content.
Introducing the Water Cycle Content
When I teach the content, I like to bring in a water cycle rap. I use to bring in the Water Cycle Rap from Bill Nye, but the video quality isn’t as good as it once was. Instead, I now use this one from Go Noodle. It covers all the vocabulary terms that the Bill Nye video does not. (Though the Bill Nye video is catchier.) After you have taught the parts, you can have your students create their own rap using the vocabulary terms.
Of course, you don’t have to use music to discuss the parts of the water cycle. You can also use picture books. Here are some of my favorite picture books to use when introducing the water cycle:
Reinforcing the Content
Once it’s time to have students practice the parts, consider having them complete a water cycle circle book, such as the one below:
The circle book is interactive and engaging for students. It allows for their creativity, creates a cute display, and helps you determine how much they know. Students would complete a circle for each of the stages and one for the cycle itself. They can also write a fictional story about the day in the life of a raindrop and answer the important role the sun plays in the cycle. You can find my water cycle circle book here.
Another option is to provide students with these free writing sheets. The first one talks about how suddenly a part of the water cycle disappeared and students have to describe what they think happens because of this. This is a great way to determine if students understand that the parts are dependent on each other. The other page says an alien has landed on Earth and is confused by the stuff falling from the sky. Explain to the alien what is happening and that it’s a normal process on Earth. Students have to explain the entire cycle to the alien. You can download those sheets free by clicking on the image above.
Hopefully, these activities will help you when you are teaching this content, engage your students, and create memories that will last!
