Skip Navigation
Search

Condensation/Precipitation

Condensation/Precipitation

TEKS Objective

The student is expected to explore the processes in the water cycle, including evaporation, condensation, and precipitation, as connected to weather conditions.


Essential Understanding

The student knows that there are recognizable patterns in the natural world and among objects in the sky.

Science Background

The Water Cycle, Condensation: US Geological Survey (website) - Condensation is the process by which liquid water forms from water vapor in the air. Learn more about clouds and condensation, and their critical role in the water cycle at this informative link.

The Water Cycle, Condensation
US Geological Survey, Georgia Water Science for Schools, water.usgs.gov/edu

The Water Cycle, Precipitation: US Geological Survey (website) - Learn about the formation and shape of raindrops, precipitation patterns in different parts of the world, and precipitation size, velocity and volume.

The Water Cycle, Precipitation
US Geological Survey, Georgia Water Science for Schools, ga.water.usgs.gov/edu

What is the Difference between Evaporation and Condensation? American Geological Institute (website) - Detailed information about the differences between these two phases of the water cycle.

What is the Difference between Evaporation and Condensation?
Geological Institute, K-5 GeoSource, www.k5geosource.org

Signature Lesson

Weathering the Water Cycle, Condensation: Learn NC (website) - Students explore condensation as one phase of the water cycle, and begin to understand that the water cycle is a continuous process.

Weathering the Water Cycle, Condensation
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Education, Learn NC, www.learnnc.org

Weathering the Water Cycle, Precipitation: Learn NC (website) - Students explore precipitation as one of the three stages of the water cycle, and learn how it relates to the other stages.

Weathering the Water Cycle, Precipitation
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Education, Learn NC, www.learnnc.org

Supporting Lessons

Making Clouds: Exploring Nature Educational Resource (website) - Students observe the formation of clouds in a bottle to investigate condensation, precipitation and the water cycle.

Making Clouds
Exploring Nature Educational Resource, www.exploringnature.org

Rain Making: Exploring Nature Educational Resource (website) - Students condense water from steam and create “rain.”

Rain Making
Exploring Nature Educational Resource, www.exploringnature.org

Elaboration Lessons and Extensions

Around We Go With the Water Cycle The Core Knowledge Foundation (PDF) - Use lessons 2 (page 4) and 4 (page 7) to teach students about evaporation and condensation.

Around We Go With the Water Cycle
The Core Knowledge Foundation, www.coreknowledge.org

Assessment Ideas

Instruct students, individually or in groups, to design and create a poster that shows examples of condensation and evaporation.

Literature Connections

Magic School Bus Wet All Over. Cole, Joanna (ISBN: 0590508334)

Clouds. Saunders Smith, Gail (ISBN: 1560657774)

The Cloud Book. De Paola, Tomie (ISBN: 0823405311)

Liquid to Gas and Back. Patten, J.M. (ISBN: 1559161299)

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. Barrett, Judi (ISBN: 0689707495)

What Do You See in a Cloud? Fowler, Allan (ISBN: 0516202227)

Drip! Drop! How Water Gets to Your Tap. Seuling, Barbara (ISBN: 0-823-41459-0)

A Drop Around the World. Shaw-McKinney, Barbara (ISBN: 1-883-22072-6)

Water. Flanagan, Alice (ISBN: 0-7565-0038-9)

Water. Ditchfield, Christin; Jenner, Jan; and Vargus, Nanci R. (ISBN: 0-516-29369-9)

Water, Water Everywhere. Rauzon, Mark J. and Overbeck-Bix, Cynthia (ISBN: 0-871-56383-5)

Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain. Aardema, Verna (ISBN: 0-140-54616-2)

Water Dance. Locker, Thomas (ISBN: 0-152-16396-4)

The Water Cycle. Frost, Helen (ISBN: 0-7368-2314-X)

Related Science TEKS

(2.8A) Weather
The student is expected to measure, record, and graph weather information, including temperature, wind conditions, precipitation, and cloud coverage, in order to identify patterns in the data.

(2.8B) Using Weather and Seasonal Information
The student is expected to identify the importance of weather and seasonal information to make choices in clothing, activities, and transportation.

(2.8D) Objects in the Sky
The student is expected to observe, describe, and record patterns of objects in the sky, including the appearance of the Moon.

Related Math TEKS

2.13A  The student is expected to explain and record observations using objects, words, pictures, numbers, and technology.

Additional Resources

Follow a Drop through the Water Cycle: US Geological Survey (website) - Students learn the water cycle by envisioning a drop of water as it moves from place to place, and through different states of matter.

Follow a Drop through the Water Cycle
US Geological Survey, Georgia Water Science for Schools, water.usgs.gov/edu

Water Cycle: Exploring Earth (website) - Students observe a raindrop traveling through various points of the water cycle in this interactive animation.

Water Cycle
Exploring Earth, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, www.classzone.com

The Water Cycle: KidZone (website) - Students learn about the phases of the water cycle, and understand that the Earth’s limited water supply has been cycling for billions of years.

The Water Cycle
KidZone, www.kidzone.ws

Close Comments Button

Comments

Post a Comment
Close Comments Button