1-2 Waterdrop Journeys in the Water Cycle
Activity Overview
Students play a game of chance and
movement to gain an understanding of
the complexities of the water cycle.
Objectives
Students will:
• Learn how and where water moves as
it travels through the water cycle.
• Experience the movement of the water
cycle
• Experience something of the time
involved in some of the destinations of
the water cycle
• Learn water cycle vocabulary and
concepts
Subjects covered
Science, Language Arts and Environmental Education
Grades
4 through 8
Activity Time
Part 1: about a half hour for a classroom group of about 20 students
Part 2: one hour (or more) to write the
story
Materials
Nine special dice with movement
instructions, nine (illustrated) station
signs, nine shallow trays, nine sets of
labeled paper strips (“trackers” on colored paper (blue: ocean*, lakes, rivers;
white: clouds,* glaciers/icecaps;* green:
plants; tan: animals, soil, groundwater.*
Make more copies of *ones); 12 staplers
(one each at the lakes, rivers, clouds,
plants, animals, and soil stations and
2 each at the ocean, groundwater, and
glaciers/icecaps stations), pencils, and
one set of paper strips (one per student)
of a distinctly different color than the
tracker strips.
State Standards
Science
Use the vocabulary to ask questions
about organisms being studied (C.4.1)
Use earth and space science vocabulary (E.4.3)
Describe weather and seasonal
changes (E.4.5)
Find patterns and cycles in earth’s
Background
Water circulates continuously throughout Earth’s biosphere in what is called
the water cycle or hydrologic cycle. The water cycle is more complex than
we can actually conceptualize. As the water moves it takes many paths,
changing form (liquid, gas, solid) frequently, recycling again and again, but
never lost.
The water cycle includes short loops and long travels: from the one inch
journey up the stem of a violet growing north of Lake Superior, to the
journey it next makes after photosynthesis occurs and the water molecule
is transpired and swept up into the vast system of the atmosphere, which
sweeps it across hundreds of miles before the water vapor condenses into
clouds and falls as precipitation over Lake Ontario.
Some water loops last an instant: imagine the sip of a dragonfly from a
one-drop puddle on a water lily leaf in a Lake Erie marsh. Some cycles last
decades or centuries: Lake Superior completes one water change every 191
years. Groundwater and glaciers hold onto their water for very long times.
Because the water cycle is so complex, with many small and large interconnected loops, we may need to simplify these cycles so that students can “see”
the big picture more clearly and understand it better.
One big central cycle begins with water evaporating from the surface of a
pond, lake, stream, river, or the ocean, and up into the atmosphere as water
vapor. The water vapor eventually condenses into water droplets, forming
clouds. As more droplets connect, they eventually become heavy enough to
precipitate and fall as rain, sleet, snow, or hail.
Some of that water will infiltrate the soil where it falls, If it infiltrates deeply
enough, it becomes groundwater in deep aquifers made of porous rock.
Groundwater often discharges into springs, ponds, lakes, streams and rivers,
replenishing them. From there, it may flow to the ocean, or evaporate into
the atmosphere again.
Water in the soil can cycle up through a plant, and be used in the process
of photosynthesis. Transpiration through the leaf will move it out into the
atmosphere once again. Plants, of all the living things on earth, circulate the
most water. Animals move water too, first by drinking it, and then by passing it along through respiration (breathing) and excretion.
Set Up
Note: Careful set up helps this activity work smoothly.
Set up a station for each of the nine dice and their tracker strips. Shallow
trays work well to contain each station’s materials. A stapler or two (fully
loaded) should be at each station.
Since certain stations (oceans, glaciers/icecaps, and groundwater) can be
difficult to “escape” from, and thus tend to accumulate students, arrange
the stations so that the slow-moving stations are not close to each other.
If possible, use a room where the tables (or desks) can be moved towards
© Earth Partnership • University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum
Discovering Species, Habitats & Cycles 1-2
1-2 Waterdrop Journeys in the Water Cycle
changes (E.4.6)
Find connections among living and nonliving things (F.4.4)
Language Arts
Write informative/explanatory texts to
examine a topic and convey ideas and
information clearly. (3-5.W.2)
Produce clear and coherent writing
in which
the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task,
purpose, and audience. (6-8.W.4)
the walls, creating a large space within which the students can move freely.
Think about a space where students can sit when they finish the activity. An
arrangement like this works well:
GROUND
SOIL
WATER
RIVERS
PLANTS
Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in
groups, and teacher- led) with diverse
partners, building on others’ ideas and
expressing their own clearly. (3-8SL.1)
Use knowledge of language and its
conventions when writing, speaking,
reading, or listening. (3-5.L.3)
Environmental Education
Collect information, make predictions,
offer explanations (A.4.2)
Communicate understanding (A.4.4.)
Note: This activity is an adaptation of
the NOAA activity: The Water Cycle, and
gratefully used here by permission.
GLACIERS
Ocean
CLOUDS
LaKE
ANIMALS
If possible, before beginning the activity, have each student write their name
on a strip of paper (bright blue works nicely) and staple the strip into a water
drop shape. This will serve as the beginning of each waterdrop journey. The
following describe what happens to a waterdrop, depending on the roll of
the dice at each of the nine stations.
CLOUDS:
Soil: Water condenses and falls on soil.
Glacier: Water condenses and falls as snow onto a glacier.
Lake: Water condenses and falls into a lake.
Ocean: Water condenses and falls into the ocean.
Stay: Water remains as a water droplet clinging to a dust particle in the
cloud.
OCEAN:
Clouds: heat energy is added to the water, so the water evaporates and goes
to the clouds.
Stay: Water remains in the ocean.
RIVER:
Lake: Water flows into a lake.
Ground water: Water is pulled by gravity; it filters into the soil.
Ocean: Water flows into the ocean.
Animal: An animal drinks water.
Clouds: Heat energy is added to the water, so the water evaporates and goes
back to the clouds.
Stay: Water remains in the current of the river.
© Earth Partnership • University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum
Discovering Species, Habitats & Cycles 1-2
1-2 Waterdrop Journeys in the Water Cycle
ANIMAL
Soil: Water is excreted through feces and urine.
Clouds: Water is respired or evaporated from the body.
Stay: Water is incorporated into the body.
GLACIER:
Ground water: Snow melts and water percolates down through soil and rock
to ground water.
Clouds: Snow melts and water evaporates to the clouds.
River: Snow melts and water flows into a river.
Stay: Snow stays frozen in the mountains.
PLANT:
Clouds: Water leaves plant through the process of transpiration.
Water: is used by the plant and stays in the cells.
SOIL:
Plant: Water is absorbed by plant roots.
River: The soil is saturated, so water runs off into a river.
Ground water: Water is pulled by gravity; it filters into the soil.
Clouds: heat energy is added to the water, so the water
evaporates and goes into the clouds.
Stay: Water remains on the surface (perhaps in a puddle or
adhering to a soil particle).
GROUND WATER:
River: Water filters into a river.
Lake: Water filters into a lake.
Stay: Water stays underground.
LAKE:
Ground water: Water is pulled by gravity; it filters into the soil.
Animal: An animal drinks water.
River: Water flows into a river.
Clouds: Heat energy is added to the water, so the water evaporates and goes
to the clouds.
Stay: Water remains within the lake or estuary.
© Earth Partnership • University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum
Discovering Species, Habitats & Cycles 1-2
1-2 Waterdrop Journeys in the Water Cycle
Activity Description
Part 1
Please arrange yourselves evenly among the stations. (If we have an odd
number, the extra person should begin at ocean.) Only one person at a
time will be rolling the die at each station, so please make short lines.
You will each be journeying through the water cycle in this activity. Each
of you will be taking a different journey. You will be keeping track of your
own itinerary by adding a tracker slip at each destination. Some of you may
find yourselves “stuck” at one destination for several turns. Be sure to add
a tracker slip for each turn you remain at that station. Can someone at the
groundwater station explain why water might stay underground for a longer
time?
When you reach each destination station, first attach the tracker slip to your
previous loop, then roll the die. Be sure to read the directions so that you
understand both how and where you are journeying next.
Be very careful to add each new tracker to the preceding one, which will
make a long paper chain. The order of your journey must make sense, just
as water moves following rules based on its special properties. The order
of your journey will be important to you when you write the story of your
waterdrop’s journey later on.
Before we begin, let’s name the possible destinations in this water cycle.
Let’s practice a trial run. Could the first lake person roll the die and tell us
how a waterdrop might move from a lake, and where it would go?
This water cycle is not a race. There is no end to the water cycle. There is no
final destination. So enjoy the journey. When you have twelve trackers on
your paper chain, please come and sit over here while others complete their
journeys.
You may begin your journeys now.
Wrap-up Discussion
•Before we leave the water cycle, do any of you have some questions or
ideas you would like to share?
•Did your journey make sense to you?
•Did you encounter any surprises?
•How might the movement of water in our area change in winter?
•Thinking back to instructions on each die, which water journey mode
would winter shut down the most?
•Do you think it would be possible to develop an activity like this one that
would add more of the complexity of the real world water cycle and still
be playable?
Part 2
Please write an essay, or a creative yet factually correct adventure, about
© Earth Partnership • University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum
Discovering Species, Habitats & Cycles 1-2
1-2 Waterdrop Journeys in the Water Cycle
your waterdrop’s journey in the water cycle. Include appropriate water cycle
vocabulary.
Extensions
•Examine the tracker slips and note how many times the waterdop had to
change its state (liquid, gas, or solid) during its 12 mini-journeys.
•Read Aldo Leopold’s Odyssey in A Sand County Almanac. This adventure of an atom in the biosphere will inspire you to write a more complex
waterdrop adventure.
Additional Resources
•Bang, Molly and Penny Chishom. (2009). Living sunlight: How plants
bring the earth to life. New York: Scholastic, Blue Sky Press.
•Hooper, Meredith. (1998). The drop in my drink: The story of water on our
planet. New York: Viking Penguin Putnam, Inc.
•Leopold, Aldo. (1949). A Sand County Almanac. UK: Oxford University
Press.
Assessments
•Using the tracker chain, have a student briefly describe and explain a
waterdrop’s journey in the water cycle, using appropriate vocabulary.
•Make a flowchart diagram of the waterdrop’s journey in the water cycle.
•Create a diagram of the whole water cycle, labeling with appropriate
vocabulary and concepts. © Earth Partnership • University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum
Discovering Species, Habitats & Cycles 1-2
1-2 Waterdrop Journeys in the Water Cycle
GLACIER
CLOUDS
ANIMAL
PLANT
SOIL
GROUNDWATER
LAKE
OCEAN
STAY
RIVER
* These are samples only. For a complete set of
reproducable artwork of the cubes and cards needed
to play this game as a PDF, contact Earth
Partnership staff.
© Earth Partnership • University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum
Discovering Species, Habitats & Cycles 1-2
1-2 Waterdrop Journeys in the Water Cycle
Sample of a large card for the “Lake” station. A PDF copy of a card for each station can be found on the accompanying CD.
LAKE
Ground water: Water is pulled by gravity;
it filters into the soil.
Animal: An animal drinks water.
River: Water flows into a river.
Clouds: Heat energy is added to the water, so
the water evaporates and goes to the clouds.
Stay: Water remains within the lake or estuary.
© Earth Partnership • University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum
Discovering Species, Habitats & Cycles 1-2
Water Cycle Activity Writing Project
Name________________________________________ Date________________________________________
We recently participated in the water cycle activity. Your drop of water traveled from the following locations: lakes,
ponds, rivers, creeks, ocean, glaciers, groundwater, soil, plants, animals, and clouds. Please list in order the twelve
chains you added to your drop.
1.____________________ 2.____________________ 3._____________________ 4.______________________
5.____________________ 6.____________________ 7._____________________ 8.______________________
9.___________________ 10.___________________ 11.____________________ 12._____________________
The following are the processes that moved your drop of water from one place to the next:
Evaporation
Precipitation
Infiltration
Transpiration (from plants)
Respiration (animals)
Condensation (dew, frost)
Run-off, storm sewers
Ocean currents
Gravity
Freezing, thawing
Use the space below and on the back of the paper to tell the story of your drop of water. Explain where it traveled, how
long it stayed in each stop (short, medium, or long amount of time), and include the processes that were involved. Be
creative.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
© Earth Partnership • University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum
Discovering Species, Habitats & Cycles 1-2