Did you know that the glass of water that you drank today is likely the same water that a dinosaur drank a long time ago! Yeah we thought fourth graders would think that statement was really cool, just like we think we are really cool!
Today in class we thought it would be interesting to talk about the glorious water cycle. Water is important to life on earth, but sometimes we forget that water is continually traveling through different pathways that are essentially recycling the water humans use.
The gallon jug that Pete the Mad Scientist is holding above visually represents the amount of water on earth. The Mad Scientist showed the students just how much fresh water there is on earth for humans consumption, a whopping 0.00003%. With a flick of water from the finger tips of the Mad Scientist students were able to understand how much water we really have access to. The students seemed very concerned with comments like, “Climate change is a real problem and we should focus on ending water scarcity.” Well that was the hope, the more realistic responses were, “Boy I feel thirsty.” At least they have water on the brain!
For students to fully understand the concept of the hard work that water endures every day we had them play the role of a water molecule traveling through the water cycle. By creating a bead bracelet, the students were able to understand the different storage areas that water travels to on earth and the processes water goes through to get to these water storage areas.
The students had a blast traveling through the water cycle as a water molecule. It is always rewarding when you are excited about an activity and you here a student say, “This is the most fun I have ever had. I want to play this game forever.” You who are reading this cannot see it but I have a big smile on my face!
This week was a Waterful success! Next week the SCAers will be back for another round of teaching and mind molding!
