An easy-to-follow planning strategy—
Do-Talk-Do—provides the structure for
an integrated unit on the water cycle for
fifth-grade students.
By Julie Vowell and Marianne Phillips
30 Science and Children
id you know that the water you use today is
the same water that was used millions of
years ago? How is this possible? Water is
continuously replenished through a naturally occurring process known as the water cycle.
To help students learn about this important concept, we created an eight-day unit for fifth-grade
students to explore the water cycle and its components, including evaporation, condensation, and
precipitation. Our unit uses the “Do-Talk-Do”
instructional strategy (Kemper and Ramsey 1997),
an easy-to-follow planning strategy for teachers
that involves students in authentic hands-on experiences, social interaction, and concept development based on prior knowledge. Here’s how the
strategy played out in our water cycle unit.
The First “Do”
Do-Talk-Do begins with a concrete experience that
serves as a baseline for learning. In the water cycle
lessons, the first “Do” is comprised of three concrete experiences that separately introduce the main
components of the water cycle—precipitation,
evaporation, and condensation. A final discussion,
“Talk,” links the three. Any new terminology or
formal discussion about the water cycle is reserved
for “Talk.”
Evaporation
Evaporation occurs when there is sufficient heat for
water molecules to separate from the surface of liquid
water and enter a gaseous state. The rate of evaporation is affected by temperature, wind, surface area,
Keywords: Water cycle
at www.scilinks.org
Enter code: SC070704
Summer 2007 31
and level of humidity. For example, when it is hot outHave the groups leave their plates where they are overside, water molecules move more quickly, enabling them
night. The next day, have the students draw a circle with a
to evaporate more quickly into the air. To illustrate evapoblack crayon around their puddle if there are any changes.
ration, the teacher wipes a damp sponge across a chalkThe groups should compare the puddles again. Then,
board. The students watch and make observations about
remind the students of their predictions. Students should
what happens. Some may think that the water soaks into
come to the conclusion that evaporation occurred, that it
the blackboard.
occurred at a higher
The teacher exrate for those plates
plains that the wawith less water origiter changed from a
nally, and that plates
liquid to a vapor.
in warmer locations
The class should
(in a sunny window,
come to underetc.) had higher rates
stand that the water
of evaporation.
evaporated but is
Condensation
still in the air. The
Condensation is the
water evaporates
process of water vafaster with wind
por changing back
(blowing on the
to liquid water. To
blackboard) or inhelp students excreasing surface
perience condensaarea (spreading the
tion, have a cup full
water out).
of ice water on the
After a short
U.S. Geological Survey http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/watercycle.html
center of each table.
discussion of the
Begin the session
cause for the wawith the questions: Why are there drops on the outside of
ter’s disappearance (effect of the temperature and inthe cup? Where did they come from? What is happening?
crease in surface area), the class is divided into groups
The students might believe that the water on the glass
for the next activity.
sweats through small pores.
Each group of students gets a plate and three difTo gain a better understanding of what happened, the
ferent colored crayons. They should make a shallow
teacher will engage the class in the activity “Cloud in a
puddle of water on their plate. Then, they should use a
Bottle.” For this activity, each group will need a pintpurple crayon to make a circle around their puddle of
sized plastic jar, a plastic bag of ice that snugly covers
water. Instruct each group to choose different places
over the jar opening, and a sheet of black paper. Have
in the room to place their plate (e.g., in the Sun, in the
the students tape the paper on the back half of the jar
shade, near a fan). Let the plates sit for about an hour.
so they can’t see through it. Let students fill one-third
During that time, have students make several predicof the jar with warm water. The teacher (not students)
tions about what will happen to the water: Will the
should light a match and hold it over the jar opening.
amount of water on the plate remain the same? If not,
After a few seconds, drop the match in the jar, and cover
what change will occur? Which plate will have the least
the top with the bag of ice. The match introduces smoke
amount of water after one hour?
particles into the bottle, enhancing the condensation.
While the students are waiting to check their puddles,
Students should observe the inside of the jar and rethe teacher can read a book about water. Water Dance
cord and discuss their observations with their group.
by Thomas Locker (1997) provides an excellent visual
Students might describe the bottle as looking smoky,
and instructional tool for helping students develop their
foggy, or cloudy inside.
conceptual understanding of the water cycle.
The system in the jar can be compared to our atmoAfter one hour has passed, instruct students to check
sphere, in which there is water vapor. In the jar, water
their puddles. Each group should make an orange circle
vapor condenses on particles, such as the smoke from
around their puddles if the puddles have changed any.
a match, whereas in the atmosphere cloud droplets are
(The puddles should shrink.) Then different groups
formed around particles of dust, salt, or soil. These
can walk around the room to observe and compare all
particles serve as condensation nuclei. In clouds,
of the plates while the teacher records on the board
droplets merge with many other cloud droplets, bestudent observations of which plate had the most water,
coming heavy enough to return to Earth as precipitathe least, etc.
32 Science and Children
Figure 1.
Story rubric.
Criteria
5
Points
4
3
2
All parts of
the water cycle are stated
in a logical
sequence.
One part of
the water cycle
is missing.
Organization
Story is
creatively
written. All
parts of the
water cycle
are stated
in a logical
sequence.
Reader has
difficulty
following
the story
because student jumps
around.
Story is
poorly written. Some
steps of the
water cycle
are missing.
Content
Knowledge
Student
exhibits
knowledge
of all parts
of the water
cycle. Story
is creatively
written and
correct.
Student exhibits general understanding
of the water
cycle. However, story lacks
details.
Student
confuses one
of the parts
of the water
cycle.
Student
confuses
two parts
of the water
cycle.
Student
confuses two
parts of the
water cycle.
Story lacks
details.
All story
grammar
and spelling
is correct.
Story has one
grammar or
spelling error.
Story has two
grammar
and/or spelling errors.
Story has
three grammar and/or
spelling
errors.
Story has
four or more
grammar
and/or spelling errors.
Story is neatly written.
Story has one
part that is
sloppy.
Story has two
parts that are
sloppy.
Story has
three or four
parts that
are sloppy.
Story is
illegible.
Grammar
and Spelling
Neatness
1
Total 
tion, which allows for evaporation to occur—with the
entire process continuing.
Precipitation
Precipitation occurs when water vapor condenses
and falls to the Earth. Following the condensation
demonstration, the students visit weather websites
(such as weather.com) to research precipitation
levels in cities around the world and at home and
compare them (students can also find this information in newspapers). Noting the different levels of
precipitation around the world will encourage the
students to reflect on the effects of precipitation and
begin to understand the global nature of the water
cycle. Students can plot precipitation on maps. They
may associate types of precipitation or amounts of
precipitation with geographic locations.
“Talk”
During “Talk,” the teacher helps students verbalize
their ideas and make inferences based upon their observations from the initial Do experiences. At this time, the
teacher should try to clarify any misconceptions.
In the water cycle unit, talk begins with a class
discussion and introduction of important terms. The
teacher explains that the experiences they observed
Summer 2007 33
describe the continuous movement of water that
makes up the water cycle. Evaporation (as observed
through the chalkboard and paper plate demonstrations) occurs when heat causes water to change to
a gas. Once the water has turned into a gas, it cools
and changes into a liquid in the atmosphere. This
process of condensation (as observed through the
jar, match, and ice demonstration) forms clouds.
Eventually, those water droplets fall to the ground
as precipitation (as students confirmed through their
recording of various precipitation levels around
the globe). The water will evaporate, soak into the
ground, or run along the surface into another body
of water such as a lake, river, or stream.
After the terms are introduced, students break
into small groups to process their understanding
of the water cycle by answering such questions as,
Where does the water go? How do the parts of the
water cycle fit together? What would happen if one
part was left out?
Finally, the class reassembles as a large group and
the teacher places a diagram of the water cycle on the
overhead. The teacher leads an interactive discussion
of the water cycle. Typically, students share their understanding as: Evaporation occurs when heat from
the Sun causes water to change to a gas. Once the
water has turned into a gas, it cools and changes into a
liquid form in the atmosphere (known as the process
of condensation). Condensation results in cloud formation. Eventually, the clouds become too “heavy”
or saturated with water, and the water returns to the
ground as rain, sleet, snow, or hail (precipitation).
The precipitation will either soak into the ground
or run off the land into a body of water such as an
ocean, river, lake, or stream. Through this discussion,
students reveal their understanding that the water
cycle is continuous.
The Final “Do”
After the synthesizing talk, students move on to the
final “Do.” In this phase of instruction, students
transfer their newly formed concepts and skills to
new situations. In the water cycle unit, students with
previous inquiry experience (i.e., asking testable
questions, controlling variables, designing predictions, collecting data, analyzing data, and making
conclusions) could conduct an open inquiry in which
they ask a new question of their own (e.g., Is there
a difference between the salt water cycle and fresh
water cycle?) and then design an investigation to
explore it (e.g., such as creating a salt water system
setup and fresh water system setup and comparing
the two). In an open inquiry, the teacher facilitates
students’ investigations, offering guiding questions
34 Science and Children
and addressesing safety issues and other assistance,
but students devise the methods needed to collect
data and test their predictions themselves. These
additional explorations and the ownership of the
open-inquiry process itself can lead students to a
broader understanding of the topic.
Assessment
By the end of their inquiry experiences in the final
“Do,” students will have a developing understanding
of the water cycle. As a summative evaluation, ask
students to write a creative story that describes each
of the processes of the water cycle: precipitation,
evaporation, and condensation. The stories can then
be shared with the class and graded using the rubric in
Figure 1 (page 33). All aspects of the water cycle should
be creatively presented and discussed within the story:
“One day a drop of water (in solid form) was sitting
on top of a hill in the middle of the country. He was
close to all of his friends because he was with them in
a pile of snow. A few hours passed and the Sun began
to shine. The Sun was bright that afternoon, and the
tiny drop of water started to feel warm. All of a sudden….” The students should take the water droplet
through each phase of the water cycle (e.g., precipitation, evaporation, and condensation).
When presented using the Do-Talk-Do method
these simple activities not only introduce an essential
science concept, they also serve as a starting point for
verbal discussion and complex thinking, an important
aspect of any science class. n
Julie Vowell ([email protected]) is a doctoral student at the University of Houston in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction specializing
in science education. Marianne Phillips (mmcp_uh@
yahoo.com) has recently graduated from the University of Houston doctoral program in Curriculum and
Instruction specializing in science education.
Resources
Kemper, J., and Ramsey, J. 1997. Facilitate science learning in
elementary and middle school. Champaign, IL: Stipes.
Locker, T. 1997. Water dance. New York: Harcourt.
National Research Council (NRC). 1996. National science
education standards. Washington, DC: National Academy
Press.
Internet
Weather.com
www.weather.com
Zoom School: The Water Cycle
www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets
earth/Watercycle.shtml