How to teach the water cycle

Grade 2 to Grade 5

The water cycle is the continuous journey water takes between the sea, the sky and the land. The Sun's heat drives four repeating stages: evaporation, condensation, precipitation and collection. There is no start or end, it just keeps going, which is the key idea for students to grasp.

How to teach it

1. Anchor the four words to what students already know: puddles drying (evaporation), a foggy mirror or cold glass 'sweating' (condensation), rain and snow (precipitation), rivers and the sea (collection).
2. Use the diagram to trace one drop's whole journey with your finger, sea to sky and back, and stress that it loops forever.
3. Do a jar-and-lid demo: warm water in a sealed jar, condensation forms on the lid and 'rains' back down, the whole cycle in miniature.
4. Have students label a blank diagram, then explain each arrow to a partner in their own words.
5. Extend with where the energy comes from (the Sun) and why the total amount of water on Earth stays about the same.

Common mistakes

• Thinking the cycle has a beginning or an end rather than repeating.
• Mixing up evaporation (liquid to gas) and condensation (gas to liquid).
• Forgetting the Sun is the energy source that drives the whole cycle.
• Believing rain is 'new' water instead of the same water recycled.