Introduction
This is the second publication in our series called What Goes Around Comes Around. The first publication
covers the topic of the carbon cycle
and the third, nitrogen cycle.
When it’s raining, waters always draining,
Flowing down into the woodland stream.
Girls: Some will come directly down.
Boys: Some will come in from the ground.
Girls: All around.
Boys: From the ground.
Ohh...
—from Land and Water, sung to the tune of Alouette.
A children's song conveys the water cycle to elementary students—a series of steps involving changing states
of matter through the processes of evaporation, transpiration, condensation, and precipitation. In middle school,
students can begin to investigate the chemical and physical properties of water that enable it to behave in ways
necessary for the water cycle to happen.
As we did in The Carbon Cycle, we will assume students have been
exposed to the water cycle but lack understanding of the more abstract properties of water. Thus, some of the resources
here will facilitate student investigation and understanding of the properties of water and its role in and out
of living things. An understanding of the nature of H2O combined with previous knowledge of the water
cycle will enable students to explore real-world issues of water pollution; water conservation; water purification;
water management; and the impacts of road, bridge, dam, parking lot, and other construction.
We all know water is essential for life, but do we ever ask why? Exactly what does water do for living things
that's so important? The first resource in Background Information for Teachers
addresses this question in a general and comprehensible way. Water, being essential to life, is highly valued
in most cultures and care should be taken with its management. But if it’s a renewable resource and if it cycles
as we are taught it does, how can there be such a thing as a water shortage?
The resources here will provide you with content information as well as lessons and activities to guide
your students to deeper understandings of the nature of water, the need for and intricacies of its management,
and why water management issues can be difficult and emotional.
by Mary LeFever
Mary LeFever is a resource specialist for the Middle School Portal, and a doctoral candidate in science education at Ohio State University. She has taught middle school and high school science and is an adjunct instructor of biology and natural sciences at Columbus State Community College. Please email any comments to msp@msteacher.org.
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Copyright
July 2007 — The Ohio State University. This material is based upon work
supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0424671. Any
opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this
material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of
the National Science Foundation.
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This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons License.
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