How can i make a working model of a water cycle?
Materials
- Artist's clay or plastic mountain model
- Plastic shoe box with cover
- Petri dish
- Lamp
- Water
- Crushed ice
Procedure
If you have a large aquarium, you can do this activity as a demonstration, allowing the students to study and observe the phenomena and develop their own ideas and conclusions for class discussion. With sufficient materials, you can also do it as a group project, with teams of three to five students responsible for setting up the model and drawing conclusions from their own work. The activity is described below as if it were a demonstration. As always, if done by students, it's important not to overly explain what is "supposed" to happen, but rather let them discover the model cycle for themselves.
- Discuss the water cycle with students. Show the graphic of the water cycle and explain the various parts.
- Using the clay, shape a mountain.
- Place the mountain on one side of the shoe box with the sloped side facing the interior of the box where the "ocean" will be.
- Pour water into the "ocean" basin until about one-fourth of the mountain slope is covered.
- Replace the lid of the shoe box.
- Place a petri dish on top of the shoe box over the mountain (as shown).
- Place crushed ice into the petri dish.
- Position the lamp over the ocean. Turn on the lamp. CAUTION: THE LAMP WILL GET HOT. DO NOT TOUCH THE BULB OR SHADE.
- Have students observe the container carefully and note any changes that they see. It might help to add a little smoke to the aquarium to help them see the circulation. (A few matches lit, then blown out and quickly dropped into the box will work).