Water is Life!

Students answered our unit throughline question: “How do the properties and movements of water shape Earth’s surface and affect its systems?” by first experimenting with cohesion and adhesion, the forces that make water stick to itself and to other substances, and conducting labs to understand how surface tension and capillary action work together with cohesion and adhesion to enable water to climb against gravity. In addition to seeing these cool properties of water at work, students practiced the skill of drawing what they saw, rather than what they thought, and they also practiced recording observations and writing up lab reports. Earlier this year, students also repurposed plastic bottles into self-watering planters in the ChangeMaker Lab. During our water unit, they germinated and planted seeds that used capillary action to water themselves. The students continue to observe, record data about, and take care of their plants, and will continue working with them during our next unit, Soil, Plants & Food Security.

 

The water cycle highlights an important theme in sixth grade science: Earth operates in cycles. Everything on Earth is a part of a cycle. All matter that exists on Earth is the same matter that has always existed on Earth; it’s just constantly changing forms. This is true for rocks, minerals, nutrients, and even energy. In terms of H2O, the water we drink today is made up of the same hydrogen and oxygen that made up the first water ever to form on Earth! The students brought the hydrologic cycle to life through adventure stories about a water droplet’s journey from evaporation to condensation and precipitation and back again. Using their knowledge about the cycle, students imagined what it would be like to be traveling through each step, and then shared their water droplet’s adventure through comic strips, storyboarding, booklets, and stories, using scientific vocabulary as it shifts between the gaseous, liquid, and solid phases of matter in, on, and above the Earth. 

 

Here is an excerpt from Ayan’s water drop story, "A Day In The Life Of Drop Let":
As the light dims, and the runoff dries, it’s time for me to go home, away from the lithosphere, and back to the atmosphere. I hop onto the nearest Stream Subway and arrive at the nearest Evaporation Elevator. I float up as I wave goodbye, and soon I’m back at Cloud Cabin 5. I hop in bed, say goodnight, and prepare for my next day and flight. As I close my eyes I cry, with tears of happiness in my eyes. Tomorrow's a new day, and I must prepare for a day just like today.

 

Here is an excerpt from Enrico’s story, "Susie in the Rain":
Susie waited days, nights, weeks…waiting for rain. She turned, looking at the drain, wishing she could reach it, seeing drops move by themselves. If only they were being dropped onto a tilted surface, or there were more droplets to help boost them. Susie waited for more rain to help her get down the drain. A week passed until it rained. Luckily it was heavy. Susie looked up watching as the droplets came down to her. She smiled, watching as the little droplets slightly younger than her landed on the roof. Soon, the only thing holding Susie back was the easiest thing to overcome. Soon, Susie ascended down the drain into a runoff, down into the “backyard.” Is that what they call it? Susie realized this is where her story starts, but it wouldn’t be easy. So, the group eventually slowed down and the droplets went their ways, some going on to hydrate plants. But, Susie stayed with the group she was in. They planned to meet the lithosphere, so as they waited, the group of surface water started to sink. They waved bye to the group by the plants: “Have fun with transpiration!” They smiled yelling back, “Have a good percolation!” Susie and her group started to sink faster. Susie yelled in excitement, “WOOOHOO!!” Finally it started. They were starting their trip to the aquifer. They now fully sank, becoming groundwater… 

 

With their lab group, students created working watershed models to see how the concepts actually relate to one another. They created waterfalls and river meanders, deltas and floodplains, and so many more features, all placed in their respective locations within the upper, middle, or lower course of their watershed. At the end of the week, we tested their watersheds with a storm (i.e. a spray bottle) to see how the water moved through their various watershed features.