Journey Through the Water Cycle

Part of the fourth grade core curriculum is learning about the Water Cycle. After three days of learning about the water cycle, the students became a water droplet and went on their own journey through the water cycle. There were nine stations set up around the room that were places where a drop of water would end up. The stations were: animal, plant, river, lake, ocean, groundwater, soil, clouds, and snow. At each station the students rolled dice and depending on the number they rolled would determine that water cycle process they went through and what station they would rotate to next. There was a colored bead that represented each station that the students collected, and after about ten minutes of journeying through the water cycle, the students gathered their information and wrote a story about their journey. No journey was the same, and often times the students stayed in one station for multiple turns, representing that it may take a long time for water to evaporate from the ocean but it eventually will because the water cycle never ends. Ask your students about this activity and their own journey through the water cycle.