By conducting experiments, students determine that evaporation can purify water. They listen to the story, Water's Way, by Lisa Westberg Peters, and identify parts of the water cycle inside and outside the main character's home. They identify ways animals eliminate water from their bodies. They conduct investigations to determine that the leaves of plants contain and give off water. Through illustrations, stories, or poems, cooperative groups show ways living things are part of the water cycle.
Students simulate a watershed using paper and paint.
They help to construct a watershed model and observe how it functions to conclude that a watershed filters, absorbs, and stores water. Students participate in several activities and investigations as they use their senses to examine properties of water, such as surface tension and water's capacity to act as a solvent and heat absorber. Students write a haiku about water. The class also listens to the first chapter of The Search for Delicious, by Natalie Babbitt. Water is essential to all living things.