How Water Changes and Moves Lesson Plan: Water Cycle Game

Lesson Procedure:

1. Assess students’ prior knowledge of the water cycle by asking them what they know, such as Where in the world can you find water? How much of earth is made up of water? What are different forms of water? How does water change from one form to another?
2. Next, build students’ understanding by showing the BrainPOP movie Water Cycle to the whole class on the whiteboard or other display. Make sure students understand the sequence of events and processes that make up the water cycle. If times allows, have students watch the movie again with a partner or small group from within the Make-a-Map tool. Show them how to select the Cyclical Relationship Map by clicking the My Maps icon on the left and then Use map templates.   As they watch the movie again, have them pause and fill in the concept map.
3. Display the Water Cycle Game on the whiteboard. Preview the comic strip. Ask students, What are some forms/states of water you see in this comic? Does the order seem to matter?
4. Now play the game tutorial for the whole class, reading the narration or inviting volunteers to read. After the character explains how to play, reiterate that the objective is to get most of your team’s water molecules into the goal zones, which is achieved by understanding how water changes form and moves through the environment. Remind the class that players can choose to move their own team’s water molecule toward the goal zone, or their opponents away from the goal zone. Continue the tutorial to show how the game is played.
5. Once students understand how to play, divide the class into partners or small groups of Red and Blue to play against each other at their own computers or devices. Instruct them to select the “Multiplayer: Same Screen” version of the game with the “10 turns” option. Explain that a player on the team is to select a card and read the card description aloud to the team, and together determine where the water molecule will move and why. Then have the team select which molecule they want to move -- their own or their opponent’s--and make the move.
6. If students have individual logins through My BrainPOP, encourage them to use the SnapThought® tool to take snapshots during game play, and reflect on their discoveries. For suggested prompts, see Water Cycle: SnapThought Prompts.
7. Circulate as students play and help as needed. Listen in to make sure they are using strategies and their knowledge of the water cycle, rather than guessing. Remind them to recall their water cycle concept maps, or have them refer to them if they’re still accessible.
8. Bring the class together to discuss what they learned about the water cycle. If students are using SnapThought, encourage them to share their reflections.