This webquest was designed to fit Virginia SOL 3.9.
The student will investigate and understand the water cycle and its relationship to life on Earth. Key concepts include a) the energy from the sun drives the water cycle; b) processes involved in the water cycle (evaporation, condensation, precipitation); c) water is essential for living things
The water cycle is the system by which Earth's fixed amount of water is collected, purified, and distributed from the environment to living things and back to the environment. Through research and thought provoking activities, this WebQuest will introduce students to the various steps of the water cycle and will help them make connections between the water cycle and all living things.
Resources
Hooper, Meredith. The Drop in my Drink: The Story of Water on Our Planet. Viking Children's Books. 1998 Helpful in understanding the importance of water to the formation of and continuation of life on Earth, and the need to protect this vital resource, all the while stimulating the imagination witha fantastic voyage through time. Grades 3-7. ISBN: 0711211825.
Johnston, Tom. Water, Water! Gareth Stevens Publishing. 1988. Demonstrates the many uses of water, where it comes from, how it is wasted, and why it is vital to the survival of living things. Grades 3-6. ISBN: 155532407X.
Mckinney, Barbara Shaw and Michael S. Maydak. A Drop Around the World. Dawn Publications. 1998. Presents the water cycle through the journey of a raindrop around the world, in sky, on land, underground, and in the sea, in its liquid, solid, and vapor forms, as it supports life everywhere. Grades 2-6. ISBN: 1883220726.
Strauss, Rochelle. One Well: The Story of Water on Earth. Kids Can Press. 2007. This book looks at all the water on Earth as "One Well" into which all life dips to survive. Children learn of the growing demands on a finite supply; increasing pollution; and the need to conserve, preserve, and protect this natural resource. Grades 4-6. ISBN: 155 Wick, Walter. A Drop of Water: A Book of Science and Wonder. Scholastic.1997. Photographs of water in various states and stages of movement. These pictures present water drops; soap bubbles; water condensing and evaporating; snowflakes, frost, and dew; amd water as a prism. Grades 1-5. ISBN: 0590221973.
Yolen, Jane. Water Music: Poems for Children. Boyds Mill Press. 1995. The pictures illustrate water in all its forms, ann the poems are Yolen's responses. From dewdrops to raindrops, from a trickling stream to Niagara Falls, from a froth of soap bubbles to a puddle to a lake, from icicles to steamwater is music. Grades 3-7. ISBN: 1563973367.