Supercooling Water

Matter: Can water remain a liquid below its normal freezing point 0°C (32°F), then crystallize on command (solid)?! Click here for the scientific explanation behind supercooling and snap freezing! Weather: Learn about supercooled water droplets in clouds here and how this experiment relates to freezing rain!



Turn this experiment into a delicious treat! Check out Grant Thompson's video tutorial: Self Freezing Soda!

Watercycle Red Light Green Light

Switch up Red Light Green Light by incorporating the water cycle!
Precipitation = Green (Kids run and wiggle their fingers like rain)
Evaporation = Yellow (Kids walk slowwwly and lift their arms up to the sky)
Condensation = Red (Kids stop and create a cluster. They place their arms around each others' shoulders - hug!)

Mr. Evaporation

Have kids construct an Evaporation Cup Man or Lady! Check out Miss Klipfel's first grade evaporation project! Kids decorate a cup, add water, cover the top with a material (punch holes or not), and wait till it evaporates! They measure their "friend" and keep track of any changes. Does material affect how fast or slow water will evaporate? If you don't punch holes in your material, will it evaporate?! Have kids make a prediction. As a class, create a graph showing their predictions. See the experiment in action here!

Spiky Crystals

Grow crystals in your fridge with epsom salt and hot water!
Chemistry crystals (featured above) - Instructables
Cup of Quick Crystal Needles - About.com

You can also explore evaporation by growing crystals outdoors! Check out Exploratorium's Spiky Sun Crystals!

To incorporate this into a fossil unit, grow crystals on a sponge to investigate permineralization, visit Layers of Learning!

Solar Water

Investigate renewable energy, while exploring the water cycle, with this fun experiment from Agoosa! Kids magically turn salt water into fresh water with the help of solar energy!

how to:
Pour 2 cups of water into a large bowl.
Mix 3 tsp of salt into the water. Taste the water, it's super salty!
Place a small empty bowl or cup inside of the larger bowl. 
Cover with plastic wrap and place outside in the sun.
Either place a rock on top of the bowl or secure the wrap with a rubber band (to keep plastic wrap tightly secured on the bowl).
Keep the bowl outside for 1 to 3 days (until you get enough purified water into your small bowl to taste).
Compare the water in the larger bowl to the water in the smaller bowl. Do you taste the difference?!

what's happening?!
The sun's rays will heat the water, causing it to evaporate!
Salt is too heavy to evaporate; so, it stays in the larger bowl.
Condensation will occur, creating water droplets on the plastic wrap.
Gravity makes the large droplets drip into the "collection container" (your small bowl) - creating fresh water!

Which Evaporates Faster?

3 containers:

A. soil with grass, weeds, or plants (fill with water to top of soil - don't drown plants)

B. soil - same amount of water as A

C. water

Weigh your containers. Then, place your containers in a sunny spot. Weigh each container once a day and examine any changes. Use a ruler and measure the water line along the side of each container. Use tape or a marker to show where the water line is and to compare day to day changes. Watch for at least one week. Visit Teach Engineering more details!

Water Cycle Dominoes

Water Cycle Dominoes: Kids rotate paper dominoes, matching terms to the correct definition.

Fresh Drop of the Water Cycle

Water Cycle Rap that goes to the beat of Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air from Missy B! (I changed around a few of the lyrics). Click here for the original.

Now this is a story all about how the water on our earth goes round and round. And I’d like to take a minute just sit right there, I'll tell you all about the water cycle’s ups and downs

The surface of the sea gets heated with the sun, the vapor rises up and the cycles begun

Water to gas, this stage is called Evaporation! 

Vapor rises high, squeezes together to form a cloud, also known as Condensation!

Vapor back to water - Dark clouds always form in this way...

You can be sure there’s a chance of rain!

Fog, rain, hail, snow flurries and sleet: Precipitations the word – Uh-oh, I got wet feet!

Now the water on the ground has got several choices

It can Run Off to the river and back to the sea: Accumulation! 

Or hang around as snow and ice you see...

Some of it gets taken right back as Evaporation, or comes out from plants and trees, aka Transpiration! 

The rest of the water infiltrates in the soil, as long as there’s no impermeable surface to spoil!

We come to the end of the story now and we yell to the teacher “two thirds of our world is water!” 

I look at my kingdom and I finally understand, the water cycle keeps going round and round

Also, check out Bill Nye's classic Criss Cross version (to the beat of JUMP!)

H2O Race

photo via surf ky video

I was inspired by Hooked on Science's H2O Race (an experiment on cohesion); so, I created my own game board to go along with a water cycle unit. Two different science lessons in one game! Kids learn about water cohesion and see three of the steps of the water cycle.

1. Print 2 copies of the game board below.
2. Cover the game boards with contact paper.
3. Place one drop of water near the start area on both boards.
4. Then, with a toothpick, each player "pulls" their drop of water along their game board.
5. Whoever reaches the finish line first wins!

Explanation - Water molecules are attracted to one another: Cohesion! If you scroll through Surf Ky's Hooked on Science video channel, you can see the water cohesion game (above) in action!

Artful Science

Fun art projects aren't just for preschoolers! The activities featured below all relate to the common core. Plus, kids can take their science experiment home to hang on the fridge!

1. Explore force, energy, and motion with artful physics!

Featured Above:

Inclined Plane Painting (Ramps) - BIA SFClubhouse

Marbles in Motion (Gravity, Energy, Inclined Plane) - Harris County Public Library 

Snap Art (Force, Potential vs. Kinetic Energy) - Capital B

2. Learn about solids, liquids, and gases with artful matter! 

Featured Above (From left to right):

Liquids to Solids 
1. Color Changing Glue Art - School at St. George Place
2. Plastic Milk - Science Bob
3. Colored Glue Drawings - Art with Mrs. Smith

Solids to Liquids

1. Paint with watercolor and watch a solid transform into a liquid!

2. Ice Cube Painting - CertaPro

Air, It's There!

1. Straw Blowing Art - Robert Burridge and Kaplan (pictured)

2. Bubble Prints - Family Fun

Liquids and Solids

1. Magic Salt Painting - Spoonful

Liquid Bliss

Paper Towel Fusion (not pictured) - Sprout 'n' Wings

More Artful Science
Play with precipitation: Water Cycle Rain Art - Terra Savvy
Explore Magnetism with Magnetic Art - BIA SFClubhouse

Catch a Raindrop!

raindrops via alamy

Are all raindrops the same size? NASA has an awesome hands on activity for a water cycle unit! On a rainy day, give kids a light colored piece of cardstock. Have them hold their cardstock out the window to collect a few drops. Then, tell them to trace around the drops with a colored pencil before their drops dry. Now, grab a ruler and measure your drops, take note of their shape. Are raindrops symmetrical? Are they all the same size? Compare your raindrop samples with your classmates. What was the smallest and largest measurement taken of a raindrop?

3D drops - Spread a thin layer of flour in a shallow pan and hold it outside for a few seconds to catch raindrop samples. The flour will create 3 dimensional drops. Carefully separate the lumps from the flour using a sieve. Have kids examine the shapes of the droplets.

Click here to download the raindrop unit from NASA!

Water Cycle Comic

Have fun with the water cycle and create a comic strip! Create events around Little Blue (a raindrop) as he travels through the water cycle. Blue could end up in the ocean and confront a shark! He could land in NYC and become a puddle! Will Blue get eaten, stepped on, or run over by a car? Will he survive the water cycle? Kids draw and write about Blue's crazy adventures through: precipitation, surface run off, accumulation, transpiration, evaporation, and condensation.

Water Cycle Wheel

Playful water cycle wheel created by Rachel Saffold! Visit her flickr stream to get a copy of disc 1 and 2 for a water cycle unit!

Precipitation, Evaporation, Transpiration, Condensation

Precipitation - Make it Rain!

Raining Rainbows (shaving cream and food coloring) -  A Bit of This and a Bit of That!

Rain in a Jar - Guest Hollow

Transpiration - Collect Plant Sweat!

Learn about transpiration through this hands on experiment from Weird Science Kids. By tying a large baggie around a plant's leaves on a super hot, sunny day, you will demonstrate how transpiration is part of the water cycle. Pour the water from the plant into a measuring cup. Kids use their measuring skills to figure out how much water the plant produced. Click here for full instructions! Save your water for the puddle experiment below!
Also, check out Parents.com to see how to conduct this experiment with a patch of grass and a jar!

Evaporation - Watch a Puddle!

Science With Me conducted a puddle experiment to teach kids about evaporation! Pour water on the pavement in a sunny spot. Then, draw a line around it with sidewalk chalk. Let it sit, then check up on it later. What happened? The water evaporated! 

Condensation - Create a cloud!