Erica M. Mentone
This activity can be done as a culminating experiment for the water cycle portion of this unit. The results can be used to assess students' understanding of the concepts presented in this part of the unit.
Goals
Students will follow and become familiar with the scientific process.
Students will create and test a hypothesis.
Students will draw a conclusion based on the results of an experiment.
Materials
Plastic cups (3 per group)
Science journals (1 per child)
Measuring cups
Water
Plastic wrap
Markers
Elastic bands
Procedure
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1. Students will pour a half of a cup of water into each plastic cup they will measure the depth of the water using a ruler, and mark the water level on the side of the cup.
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2. The students will put one of their cups in the shade, one cup in the sun, and one they will cover with plastic wrap and an elastic band.
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3. The teacher will pose questions for students to write in their science journals: What do you think will happen to the water in each of the cups and why? Which cup of water do you think will evaporate the fastest and why?
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4. Students will make predictions and write a hypothesis statement that includes which cup of water they think will evaporate the fastest.
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5. Each day, students will measure the water in each of the cups, and record their data and observations in their science journal.
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6. After a few weeks, the students will record their data in a graph and work together to draw conclusions about evaporation from the data that they have collected.
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7. Groups will be given a poster board and asked to create a display of their information including a short explanation of the water cycle, their hypothesis, their data, and their conclusion.
