IAITC Resource Guide
to
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Table of Contents
The Water of Life ............................................................................ 4
How Much Water ............................................................................ 5
Drop in the Bucket .......................................................................... 6
It’s A Cycle ...................................................................................... 7
My Water Cycle............................................................................... 8
Water Cycle Bracelet .................................................................... 10
Cloud Jar....................................................................................... 11
Water Cycle Bag ........................................................................... 12
It’s Raining Cotton Balls................................................................ 13
Don’t Use it All Up ......................................................................... 14
Wow Them With Water ................................................................. 15
A to Z—Water is Important to Me! ................................................ 21
Answers & Suggested Reading .................................................... 23
**NOTE: The suggested reading materials listed in the back of this booklet may be used to
complement the lessons throughout.
3
The Water of Life
Common Core State Standards:
Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.10; RL.3.10; W.3.2
Next Generation Science Standards:
Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits: 3-LS3-2
Background Information
Without water, there would be no life on Earth. Water is our planet’s most precious resource. A
human being can survive only a few days without water. We use water
in many different ways without even thinking about it. Some of us just
turn the faucet on and water comes out. But not everyone in the world
can take water for granted.
About 96.5% of the world’s water is salty seawater and cannot be used.
Most of the freshwater in the world is too difficult to reach because it’s
underground or in icebergs. Altogether, almost 70% of the fresh water
on Earth is inaccessible to us—but that’s still plenty for our needs.
Imagine waking up tomorrow to find that no water was coming out of the
faucets. What would you do?
Like many people in the world, you would have to get the water you need from a river, lake, well, or
pump.
Directions
Name five ways that you use water and how it affects the environment. Write down your uses below
in order of importance. Use descriptive details in your writing.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Did you know...
Our bodies are
75% water.
Water makes up
50% of your
bones.
Adapted from A
Like Mine: How
Children Live Around the World by DK | ISBN-13: 9780756618032
Life
4
How Much Water?
Common Core State Standards:
Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.1; RI.3.2; RI.3.7; W.3.1
Mathematics: CCSS.Math.Content.3.MD.A.2; 3.MD.B.3
Next Generation Science Standards:
Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits: 3-LS3-2
Directions
Use the key to calculate the number of gallons for each description below. Write the answer in the
space provided.
1
= 2.6 gallons
2
3
4
5
6
1
In some countries, you would have to manage with just one bucketful of water for a
whole day. That means water for drinking, bathing, and cooking.
2
If you leave the faucet running twice a day when you brush your teeth, you use this
much water. That’s a whole day’s supply for some people.
3
Three visits to the bathroom flushes this much water down the drain.
4
Keeping clean requires water. This much fills a bathtub.
5
Washing machines guzzle all this water for one load of laundry.
6
Factories use a lot of water. It took this amount of water to make the shoes you are
wearing.
Lesson Extender
Write a paragraph explaining ways you can conserve water.
Adapted from A Life Like Mine: How Children Live Around the World by DK | ISBN-13: 978-0756618032
5
Drop in the Bucket
Common Core State Standards:
Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.2; RI.3.3;
W.3.1
Mathematics: CCSS.Math.Content.3.MD.B.3
Next Generation Science Standards:
Earth’s Systems: 2-ESS2-3
Materials Needed
• 1 Gallon of Water
• Measuring Spoons
• Eye Dropper
• 6 Clear Containers
Directions
1. Measure and remove 5 tablespoons of water from the gallon and place in one clear
container. Label this 2% polar ice caps or glaciers.
2. Measure and remove 2 tablespoons of water from the gallon and place in another clear
container. Label this container 0.62% ground water.
3. From the gallon of water, take 1/8 teaspoon and place in a container labeled 0.008%
inland seas/salt lakes.
4. Take out another 1/8 teaspoon of water and place in a container labeled 0.009% fresh
water lakes.
5. In the two remaining containers, place one drop of water in each. Label one 0.001%
atmosphere and one 0.0001% rivers/streams.
6. The water remaining (97.2%) in the original gallon represents the oceans. What is
available as fresh water for human use? The combination of groundwater, fresh water
lakes, rivers, and streams (2 tablespoons + 1/8 teaspoon + 1 drop).
7. Write a paragraph explaining what you think the main idea of the activity is and why. Be
descriptive.
8. Create a bar graph or a scaled picture to represent the data described above.
Adapted from Project Wild Aquatic
6
It’s a Cycle
Common Core State Standards:
Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.3; RI.3.8; W.3.2
Next Generation Science Standards:
Earth’s Systems: 3-ESS2-1
Background Information
The movement of water is called the hydrologic, or water, cycle. The study of water is known as hydrology.
One who studies hydrology is known as a hydrologist. In this cycle, water changes states and it moves from
one location to another, until it comes back to Earth.
Scientists call the water cycle a closed system because the water, in any form, never goes away. Instead, it
changes its state, and moves from one place to another. Whether you live in a city, suburb, farm, mountains,
or desert, the hydrologic cycle is present. This is because every time you exhale, moisture is released as
vapor and rises into the atmosphere.
The sun heats up water in rivers, lakes and oceans and turns it into vapor. The water vapor leaves the river,
lake or ocean and goes into the air. This step is known as evaporation.
Water vapor in the air cools and changes back into liquid, forming clouds. This is called condensation.
Precipitation is when amounts of water condense and the air cannot hold it anymore. The clouds get heavy
and water falls back to the Earth in the form of rain, hail, sleet, or snow.
When water falls back to Earth as precipitation, it may fall back in the oceans, lakes, or rivers or it may end up
on land. When it ends up on land, it will either soak into the Earth and become part of the “ground water” that
plants and animals use to drink, or it may run over the soil and collect in the oceans, lakes, or rivers where
the cycle stars all over again.
Directions
Use the information described above to create your own illustration of the water cycle. Be sure to label each
step in the process.
7
My Water Cycle
Common Core State Standards:
Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.1; RL.3.10
Next Generation Science Standards:
Earth’s Systems: 3-ESS2-1
Directions
 Color both discs however you want. Be creative.
 Cut out both discs along dotted line. Cut out the windows on disc one.
 Place a brad through the middle of the two discs with disc one on top.
 Line up the image and name for each step of the water cycle.
This project is adapted from: http://eisforexplore.blogspot.com/2012/04/water-cycle-wheel.html
Disc One
8
Disc Two
Vocabulary
 Collection—The water from rain, sleet, and snow falls back into the rivers, lakes and oceans.
This allows the cycle to begin again.

Evaporation—The sun heats up rivers, lakes, and oceans, turning the water into vapor or
steam. The water vapor rises into the air.

Condensation—Water vapor in the air becomes cold and changes into liquid, forming clouds.

Precipitation—So much water collects in the air that the air cannot hold it anymore.
The clouds get heavy and water falls as rain, sleet, or snow.
9
Water Cycle Bracelet
Common Core State Standards:
Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.3; RI.3.7; SL.3.1; W.3.2
Next Generation Science Standards:
Earth’s Systems: 2-ESS2-3
This activity uses 10 beads that represent the water cycle. The beads are used to
show the paths water takes through its various states – solid, liquid and vapor, as it
moves throughout Earth’s systems – oceans, atmosphere, ground water, rain,
streams, etc.
Directions
 Give each student a piece of yarn, leather, rope, or a pipe cleaner.
 Show the students that each colored bead represents a different stage of water in the Earth’s
systems.
 Ask the students to string one of each colored bead on their bracelet. Tell them to string the beads in
any order they like.
 After the bracelets are complete, ask the students to show you their personal water cycle. For
example, if their beads are in the following order: clouds, puddles, plants, etc., the students explain
that the water started in the clouds, then it rained and fell into puddles on the sidewalk, then the
water evaporated and collected on the plants overnight. Each student will have a different water
story to tell.
The beads and what they represent are as follows:

Sun (yellow) – the sun is the source of all energy on earth and powers the water cycle.

Water Vapor (clear) – the part of the water cycle where water is suspended in the air or is steam and
humidity.

Clouds (gray) – when water vapor condenses but is still in the air.

Rain (sparkling clear) – moisture from clouds falls to the earth as a liquid.

Snow (white) – moisture falling as a liquid in the frozen state.

Erosion (brown) – rain causes erosion where soil is unprotected by vegetation. Soil particles are
suspended in the water runoff.

Oceans (dark blue) – the Earth’s weather factory. Moisture evaporates from the oceans by the sun’s
heat and is carried around the Earth by winds.

Lakes (sparkling blue) – the way we like to see a lake. Collects water from streams, and also
evaporates water into the atmosphere.

Puddles (sparkling brown) – rainwater collects in low spots, streets, and sidewalks, and it also
collects pollutants (dirt, trash, car fluids, etc.) Puddles evaporate or go into storm sewers.

Plants (green) – Plants take in water through roots and evaporate water into the atmosphere through
leaves – a process called transpiration.
10
Cloud Jar
Common Core State Standards:
Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.3; W.3.2; SL.3.1
Next Generation Science Standars:
Earth’s Systems: 3-ESS2-1
Background Information
As warm air rises, it cools, and any water vapor in the rising air cools
too. Eventually, it gets cool enough to condense into the tiny droplets
of water that form clouds. But the vapor needs something to condense
onto, such as microscopic dust or smoke particles in the air, called
condensation nuclei. These allow cooled water vapor to turn into
clouds. You can see how this works using warm water, ice, and
smoke particles from a match.
Materials Needed
Large wide-necked glass jar
Black paper
Plastic sandwich bag filled with ice



•
•
•
Warm water
Adhesive tape
Matches
Directions
1. Tape the black paper to the back of the jar to create a dark
background. This will make your cloud more visible. Fill about a third
of the jar with warm (not steaming) water.
2. Light a match, and then blow it out. Wait for a second or two before
dropping the smoking match into the jar. Quickly put the bag of ice on
top of the jar, so it forms a cold lid over the opening.
3. Water vapor rising from the warm water condenses onto the smoke
particles and forms a cloud. Lifting off the ice bag releases the cloud.
Reflect
 After conducting the experiment, write a paragraph describing what you saw. Use
descriptive words.
 Have a class discussion explaining why the experiment works.
This project is adapted from Nature Activities: Weather Watcher
11
Water Cycle Bag
Common Core State Standards:
Mathematics: CCSS.Math.Content.3.MD.A.2
Next Generation Science Standards:
Earth’s Systems: 2-ESS2-3
Materials Needed
• Sandwich-sized zipper seal bags
markers
• Aquarium rock
• ¼ cup measuring cup
• Packing tape
• Permanent
• Tablespoon
• Water
• Water cycle illustration
(found at www.agintheclassroom.org)
Directions
1. Place the copy of the water cycle illustration inside the bag and close the bag.
2. Using permanent markers, trace over all the black lines, including the numbers.
3. After completely tracing everything, remove the copy from the bag.
4. Add 2 tablespoons of aquarium rock to the bottom of the bag.
5. Add ¼ cup water to the bag.
6. Using wide clear packing tap, affix the bag to a window in direct sunlight and watch the
water cycle work.
Lesson Extender
Water Cycle Song
(to the tune of “Oh, My Darlin”)
Evaporation, (Push both palms up, palms parallel to the floor.)
Condensation, (Push with arms straight out to the side.)
Precipitation on my head. (Pretend to “rain” on head.)
Accumulation, (Make arms sweep back and forth in front.)
Water Cycle, (Arms rotate in circle in front.)
And we start all over again. (Turn around in place in a circle.)
This project is adapted from 2009 National Agriculture in the Classroom Conference | Emily White, Alabama
12
It’s Raining Cotton Balls
Common Core State Standards:
Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.2; SL.3.1
Mathematics: CCSS.Math.Content.3.NBT.A.2
Next Generation Science Standards:
Earth’s Systems: 3-ESS2-1
Background Information
What happens when clouds become saturated with water?
This activity uses cotton balls to demonstrate a cloud becoming
saturated with water condensed from vapor. Using thread, a safety pin, or a paper clip,
hang a cotton ball over a paper plate. Add water to the cotton ball with an eyedropper until
it “rains.” It will take more drops than you think.
Directions
1. Pair students up in groups of 2.
2. As a group, students should discuss and predict how many drops it will take before the
cotton ball cloud rains. Record your prediction.
3. Have one person hold the cotton ball over the paper plate and the other person will then
use the dropper to add water.
4. Count the number of drops needed before it begins to drip water (rain).
5. Record your actual number of drops.
6. Subtract to find what the difference is between your prediction and the actual count.
7. Repeat with a new cotton ball cloud twice more. Record your new results.
Interpreting your results
1. Did you make better predictions as you repeated the experiment? Share your answers in
a group discussion.
2. How did knowing the difference help you see if you made a better prediction?
3. Write a paragraph explaining how dropping water into the cotton ball is similar to what
happens in a real cloud.
4. Write a paragraph explaining what parts of the water cycle you are demonstrating in this
experiment.
This project is adapted from the National Weather Service.
13
Don’t Use It All Up
Common Core State Standards:
Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.1; W.3.2
Mathematics: CCSS.Math.Content.3.MD.B.4
Next Generation Science Standards:
Engineering Design: 3-5-ETS1-2
Materials Needed
 Clear container with 4 cups of tinted water
 Marker or masking tape
 Small pieces of sponges (one per student)
 Second container for sponges
 Ruler
Directions
1. Measure about 4 cups of tinted water into the container. The container represents Earth and the
water represents all the available freshwater.
2. Students can brainstorm ways in which we use water (drinking, cleaning, cooking, bathing,
irrigation, recreation, etc.).
3. Using a marker or the masking tape, mark the water level on the outside of the container. Each
student should drop a sponge into the container as they state one demand they made on water
today. Leave the sponges in the container. Ask if anyone notices a change in the water level.
4. After the students have dropped all the sponges in the container, remove them without
squeezing. Set the sponges in the other container. Look at the first container and note the
change in the water level. Mark the new water level on the outside of the container with a marker
or masking tape. Measure the difference, in inches, between the two marks on the container.
5. Help students understand the demands on natural resources of a large population have more
effect than the demands of a small one. Students can answer the following questions:
• What happens to the water level as we remove all the sponges?
• What will happen if we keep using water at this rate?
• What can we do about this situation?
• How can we conserve or give water back to the environment?
6. Squeeze sponges back into the original container, one at a time, while each student names a
way to reduce the amount of water. Notice the slight change in water level. Watch the water
level rise as more students add water to the container.
7. When everyone has put the water from their sponge back into the container, note the water level
and mark it using masking tape or a marker. Measure the distance between the first mark and
the last mark. It will be lower than when the lesson began. Ask:
• Why doesn't the water level return to the mark after the sponges are squeezed?
• What are some resources that are renewable?
Lesson Extender
Different countries around the world have different climates and resources available to them. Write
a paragraph explaining how this activity can capture different regions around the world.
Adapted from Project Food, Land and People
14
Wow Them With Water
Common Core State Standards:
Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.3; SL.3.1; W.3.1; W.3.2; W.3.7
Materials Needed
 Water Quotes Handout—located on pages 16-18
 Bio Cube Planning Sheets—located on pages 19-20
Directions
1. Using the provided quotes, cut quotes into strips and distribute to students.
2. Students will read the water quote and write a paragraph about the quote. Some/all of
the following questions should be addressed:
 What does the quote mean to me?
 What did this quote mean to the author?
 Under what circumstances did the author write this quote?
 Has this quote withstood the passage of time? Why?
 Is this quote appropriate in today’s world? Why?
3. Create a Bio Cube about one of the authors of the quotes you read. Use the planning
sheets located on pages 19 and 20 to begin. Once the sheet is completed, go to http://
www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/cube_creator/ and fill out your own
Bio Cube. A few examples of authors to choose would be: John F. Kennedy, Nelson
Mandela, Mark Twain, Henry David Thoreau, William Shakespeare, Leonardo da Vinci,
etc.
15
Wow Them With Water
Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the
object, and you shall find a way around or through it. If nothing with you stays rigid,
outward things will disclose themselves. –Bruce Lee (1940-1973)
Water is to me, I confess, a phenomenon which continually awakens new feelings of
wonder as often as I view it. –Michael Faraday (1791-1867)
Water, air, and cleanness are the chief articles in my pharmacy. –Napoleon Bonaparte
(1769-1821)
Water is the softest thing, yet it can penetrate mountains and earth. –Lao Tzu (604BC521BC)
Anyone who can solve the problems of water will be worthy of two Nobel prizes – one for
peace and one for science. –John F. Kennedy (1917-1963)
Nothing is softer or more flexible than water, yet nothing can resist it. –Lao Tzu (604BC521BC)
Dripping water hollows out stone, not through force but through persistence. –Ovid (43BC
-17AD)
When the water starts boiling, it is foolish to turn off the heat. –Nelson Mandela (19182013)
You can’t cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water. –Rabindranath
Tagore (1861-1941)
My books are water; those of the great geniuses are wine. Everybody drinks water. –
Mark Twain (1835-1910)
Water is the only drink for a wise man. –Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
To unpathed waters and undreamed shores. –William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
The cure for anything is salt water – sweat, tears or the sea. –Isak Dinesen (1885-1962)
16
Wow Them With Water
Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone. –Alan Wilson Watts (1915-1973)
Water and air, the two essential fluids on which all life depends, have become global
garbage cans. –Jacques-Yves Cousteau (1910-1997)
The noblest of the elements is water. –Pindar (522BC-443BC)
If there is magic on this planet it is contained in water. –Loran Eisely (1907-1977)
Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream. –Martin Luther
King, Jr. (1929-1968)
A lake is the landscape’s most beautiful and expressive feature. It is earth’s eye; looking
into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature. –Henry David Thoreau
(1817-1862)
Ocean: A body of water occupying two-thirds of a world made for man - who has no gills.
–Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914)
Water is the driving force of all nature. –Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
We forget that the water cycle and the life cycle are one. –Jacques Cousteau (19101997)
When you put your hand in a flowing stream, you touch the last that has gone before and
the first of what is still to come. –Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
You could not step twice into the same rivers; for other waters are ever flowing on to you.
–Heraclitus of Ephesus (535BC-475BC)
Water is the most critical resource issue of our lifetime and our children's lifetime. The
health of our waters is the principal measure of how we live on the land. –Luna Leopold
(1915-2006)
A river is the report card for its watershed. –Alan Levere
17
Wow Them With Water
We let a river shower its banks with a spirit that invades the people living there, and we
protect that river, knowing that without its blessings the people have no source of soul. –
Thomas Moore (1779-1852)
The people are like water and the ruler a boat. Water can support a boat or overturn it. –
William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
Smooth runs the water where the brook is deep. –William Shakespeare
The tree of liberty only grows when watered by the blood of tyrants. –Bertrand Barère de
Vieuzac (1792)
Men’s evil manners live in brass; their virtues we write in water. –William Shakespeare
Do unto those downstream as you would have those upstream do unto you. –Wendell
Berry
Water is life’s matter and matrix, mother and medium. There is no life without water. –
Albert Szent
Don’t you realize that the sea is the home of water? All water is off on a journey unless
it’s in the sea, and it’s homesick, and bound to make its way home someday. –Zora Neale
Hurston quotes (American folklorist and Writer, 1903-1960)
Thousands have lived without love, not one without water. –W.H. Auden
When the well is dry, we will know the worth of water. –Benjamin Franklin
There is enough water for human need, but not for human greed. –Mahatma Ghandi
(1817-1862)
A river is more than an amenity, it is a treasure. –Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes
To stick your hand into the river, is to feel the cords that bind the earth together, in one
piece. –Barry Lopez U.S. author
18
Bio Cube Planning Sheet
Use this planning sheet to prepare for the online Bio Cube interactive by filling in the information for each side of the cube. Because space on the cube is limited, you will need to
briefly summarize your information.
Side
Prompt
1
Person’s Name, Time Period, and
Place
2
Personal Background
3
Personality Traits
4
Significance
5
Obstacles
6
Important Quote
Information
Adapted from McLaughlin, M., & Allen, M.B. (2002). Guided comprehension in action: Lessons for grades 3–8. Newark,
DE: International Reading Association.
19
20
A to Z—Water is Important to Me!
Common Core State Standards:
Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.4; RI.3.5; W.3.7
Directions
Every hour of every day, we use water in some way! Can you think of a water word for every letter of the
alphabet? Locate information using Ag Mags, websites, texts and other sources.
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
Activity adapted from Debbie Ruff, Livingston County AITC
21
A to Z—Water is Important to Me!
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
animals, aquifer
boat, bathtub, broom, barge
clouds, condensation
drip, dishes
evaporation
faucet, fish
glass, groundwater
hose
ice
jug
kayak
lake, laundry
mop, meter
nozzle
ocean
pipe, precipitation
quart
rain
sink, shower, snow
toothbrush
umbrella
vapor
wave
xeriscape
you
zebra
Activity adapted from Debbie Ruff, Livingston County AITC
22
Answers & Suggested Reading
Page 5 Answers
1 = 2.6 gallons
2 = 2.6 gallons
3 = 7.8 gallons
4 = 23.4 gallons
5 = 31.2 gallons
6 = 15.6 gallons
Suggested Reading
IAITC’s Water Ag Mag
Bob the Snowman by Sylvia Loretan | ISBN-13: 978-0670836772
Cloudette by Tom Lichtenheld | ISBN-13: 978-0805087765
A Drop Around the World by Barbara McKinney | ISBN-13: 978-1883220723
A Drop of Water: A Book of Science & Wonder by Walter Wick | ISBN-13: 978-0590221979
A Life Like Mine: How Children Live Around the World by DK | ISBN-13: 978-0756618032
Nature Activities: Weather Watcher by John Woodward | ISBN-13: 978-0756620684
One Well: The Story of Water on Earth by Rochelle Strauss | ISBN-13: 978-1553379546
Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin | ISBN-13: 978-0547248295
Water by Nancy Carlson | ISBN: 978-1-926781-10-5
Water And Ice (Confronting Global Warming) by Noah Berlatsky | ISBN-13: 978-0737748611
Water Dance by Thomas Locker | ISBN-13: 978-0152163969
Weather Watch: Snow by Teacher Created Resources Staff | ISBN-13: 978-1420681017
Wonderful Water (Go Green) by Helen Lanz | ISBN-13: 978-1445109183
23
Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom
1701 Towanda Avenue
Bloomington, IL 61701
309-557-3334
www.agintheclassroom.org
24