Notes

The clouds get heavy and water falls back to the earth in the form of rain, hail, sleet or snow. Collection: 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.

Heat from the sun provides the energy for water to change from a liquid, like we drink, into a vapor. There is almost always water vapour in the air around us, but we can’t see it. On a hot, sunny day water will evaporate faster than on a cold, cloudy day.


Precipitation is a vital component of how water moves through Earth’s water cycle, connecting the ocean, land, and atmosphere. Knowing where it rains, how much it rains and the character of the falling rain, snow or hail allows scientists to better understand precipitation’s impact on streams, rivers, surface runoff and groundwater. Frequent and detailed measurements help scientists make models of and determine changes in Earth’s water cycle.

The water cycle describes how water evaporates from the surface of the earth, rises into the atmosphere, cools and condenses into rain or snow in clouds, and falls again to the surface as precipitation. The water falling on land collects in rivers and lakes, soil, and porous layers of rock, and much of it flows back into the oceans, where it will once more evaporate. The cycling of water in and out of the atmosphere is a significant aspect of the weather patterns on Earth.The purpose of this lesson is to provide students with experience creating models of land forms and bodies of water. Students review the characteristics of land forms and bodies of water in an active game, and then make models of these.
The purpose of this lesson is to provide students with experience creating models of land forms and bodies of water. Before students begin by playing an active game to review the types of characteristics of basic land forms and bodies of water, they look at some images of Earth taken from space. Next they take notes on some key characteristics for classifying land forms and learn how scientists use models. They use paper make or play dough to create models of land forms and bodies of water in a guided activity. The lesson finishes with small groups of students studying maps of different continents and using either play dough or paper make to create their group model of the land forms and bodies of water on their part of the world. Students do a gallery walk of the models and provide constructive feedback on the models of their peers. While this is intended to be the second of two lessons (see the first lesson, “Models of Land and Water- Identifying Land forms and Bodies of Water on a Map