LESSON 1 Activity 4

A Day in the Life of a Drop of Water

Grades:

4th - 7th

Objective:

Students will understand the water cycle and the path that water travels through in a groundwater delivery system, from atmosphere to groundwater, to their tap.

Method:

Guided imagery helps students understand the water cycle and a water delivery system by taking them through the birth of a raindrop, and the route that this drop might take through the ground, into a well, and up into a tap in a house.

Materials:

A copy of the fantasy, "A Day in the Life of a Drop of Water".

Time:

Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Class Time: 20 minutes

Procedure:

  1. Ask students to close their eyes, relax, take three deep breaths and slowly exhale to clear their minds of all thoughts. Read the story, "A Day in the Life of a Drop of Water", and have them imagine that they are the main character in the story.

  2. After you finish reading the story ask students how they felt about it. Have them describe (or even draw) some of the things they imagined during the story.

  3. Discuss what was happening at different points throughout the story. What was happening when the drop started to "fly" off the blade of grass? (evaporation) What did the drop of water turn into at that point? (water vapor) What was happening when the character started to feel wet again, up in the sky? (condensation) What happened next? (precipitation: the drop fell as rain) What are these transformations an example of?(the water cycle)

  4. Why did other water molecules stick to the character as it started flowing on the ground? (liquid water molecules adhere to each other) What happened when it became dark? (the drop went underground) Why were there different textures under the ground: Why was it soft first, and then hard? (drop traveled first through soil, then through underlying sand and gravel) Why did the water move less slowly as it went deeper underground? (pore spaces are larger in sand and gravel, and water movement is faster)

  5. Why did the drop start moving sideways instead of down? (aquifer flow is parallel to the underlying bedrock) What was the huge hole filled with millions of water drops? (well) What was the force that started to suck the water drop upward? (pump) At what point did the water drop enter a pipe? (when it heard echoing sounds and smelled rust) What happened when the drop hit its head on a hard metal wall -- why did it switch traveling directions? (pipe joints)

  6. What happened when the drop plunged into a blinding light? (came out a faucet) What was the "clear pool?" (a drinking glass) What were the strange flesh-like smudges and reddish/pink oval creature with wart-like bumps? (a person's hand through the glass, and the person's tongue) Where did the drop end up? (inside a person's stomach!)

  7. An alternate procedure: stop the story somewhere in the middle. Have students write their own endings and share them with the class.

NYS Learning Standards:

English
Standard 1 - Language for Information and Understanding: Listening and Reading

Math, Science, and Technology
Standard 4 - Science: Physical Setting 2,4; The Living Environment 6.


Source: This activity was taken from Southern Rhode Island Conservation District's Active Watershed Education Curriculum Guide.