Developmental Lesson Plan

Teacher Candidate: Mr. Murphy Date: October 22nd

Group Size: Allotted Time: 50mins Grade Level: 3rd

Subject or Topic: Water Cycle

Common Core/PA Standard(s):

Standard - 3.3.4.A2
Identify basic properties and uses of Earth’s materials including rocks, soils, water, and gases
of the atmosphere.

Learning Targets/Objectives:

The third grade student will be able to experiment and explain changes in the water cycle by
filling out a 2 dimensional water cycle.

The third grade student will be able to understand basic properties of Earth’s materials by
observing the changes throughout the story.
Assessment Approaches: Evidence:
1. Have students hold up a 1,2, 3, or 4 on 1. Observational
their hands to answer if it is 2. Collected assessment- Students will be
precipitation, collection, evaporation, graded on a 6 point scale as there are 1
or condensation points available for each water cycle
2. I will grade the student’s ability to label and each state of matter label on
correctly identify the basic properties the assessment sheet.
and steps of the water cycle. 3. Students will be graded on a 4 point
3. Students will be assessed on their scale, based on how well they
ability to create an easily understood organized, managed time, and labeled
and clean baggie that displays the the diagram.
water cycle.
Assessment Scale:
6/6 - Student got all six words paired with the correct change
5/6 - Student got five words paired with the correct change
4/6 - Student got four words paired with the correct change
3/6 - Student got three words paired with the correct change
2/6 - Student got two words paired with the correct change
1/6 - Student got one words paired with the correct change
Subject Matter/Content: (Don’t write anything)
Prerequisites:
● Knowing the different states of matter
● Knowing what the states of matter look like
Key Vocabulary:
● Cycle​- a series of events or operations that happen again and again regularly and
usually lead back to the starting point
● Water Cycle​- The Journey of every drop of water
● Evaporation​-to pass off or cause to pass off into vapor from a liquid state
● Water vapor​- water in a gaseous form
● Precipitation​- When there is too much water vapor in a cloud, the cloud lets go of the
water as a liquid
● Snow and Ice​- water as a solid form
● Water​- when you are able to drink, pour, and swim in water.
● Condensation​- When water goes from a gas back to a liquid
Content/Facts:
A. Water Cycle
a. The different stages that water goes through everyday in our
surrounding environment.
b. Walk children through the different ways that water is collected and can
remain in the world by reading “What Makes it Rain?”
B. Changes in states throughout cycle
a. The way that water can be encountered in the natural world, as a solid in
the form of ice and snow, a liquid as water, and a gas in the form of
water vapor.
C. Evaporation with heat
a. The children will watch a timelapse of a glass of water with salt in it as
an introduction to the water cycle, so they can see what will actually
happen when water is heated. This is hard to observe in real time if the
children are just watching it from day to day.
b. Begin with an inquiry and question for what will happen to the water
that is in the cup, and what the salt will do as water is evaporating.

Introduction/Activating/Launch Strategies:
A. In order to introduce the lesson, the teacher will begin class by handing out a paper that
asks the student what they think will happen to a cup of water with salt in it. Teacher
will state, ​“Please fill out the, “Before” questions and tell me what will happen to a
cup that has salt water in it after being left in the sun”
a. Before: “What will happen to the water when it is left in the sun, and why?”
“What will happen to the salt that is mixed with the water?”
b. During: “Write down what is happening to the salt water mixture”
c. After: “How long did this take?” “Did you guess correctly?”

Development/Teaching Approaches
A. After the students have filled out the questions that are to be done before, the teacher
will say, ​“Alright everyone, I want you to watch this video and compare what
happens in the video with what you predicted. Take notes on what you see
happening.”
B. Once the video is over, the teacher will state: ​“Now that you have watched the video,
answer the two questions that are listed under the “After” section of your paper.”
C. After the students have filled out the sheet, the teacher will say, ​“Now we will find out
what happened to the water in the glass and learn about what is called the water
cycle”
D. After watching the video of the salt water evaporating, the teacher will allow students
to share their responses with the class as an opportunity to create discussion about a
new topic. Teacher says: ​“Can a couple of you share what you expected to happen
to the salt water mixture and why you thought that would happen? Then we will
talk about why the video ended the way that it did, while we read a book.”
a. Give time for children to several children to share their ideas and give positive
feedback for them being willing to share.
E. The teacher will ask, ​“What makes it rain?”
a. Allow for the children to think about why they think it rains, as this may be a
new topic to some children. Tell the children, ​“Write down why you think it
rains, on the provided post-it notes and place them on the whiteboard.”
b. After the students have all responded to the question on the Post-it, invite all of
the children to the carpet area for the reading. ​“After placing your Post-it on
the board, make your way over to the carpet area, so I can read the story
of a raindrop, and teach you what makes it rain.”
F. Teacher will Read the story, pausing when vocabulary words come up and add them to
an easel poster board (​Pg. 7​, water vapor and evaporation, ​Pg. 10, ​ Ice and snow, P ​ g.
13​, Water as a liquid, ​Pg. 16, ​Water cycle and cycle​) and provide the definition as
stated in the book.
a. During the story, be sure to emphasize the different states that water is in
throughout the story. When rain is mentioned in the story, the teacher will say,
“Rain is water in the form of a liquid”​ or if rivers and creeks are mentioned,
they will state, ​“All of the water that we see collected and flowing is in the
liquid state” ​ If clouds or evaporation are mentioned, the teacher will say,
“When water is in clouds, it is in the state of a gas because it is too warm to
be a liquid” ​Finally, if ice and snow are mentioned in the story, the teacher
will state, ​“The water is in the state of a solid, because it is too cold for it to
be a liquid”
G. After the reading of the story, allow the students to ask any further questions that they
have about the story that you have just read. Now, come back to the Post-it notes that
the children had written, and ask the children, ​“Did anyone write down what makes
it rain, like we learned in the story?”​ if a student did, ask, ​“How did you know what
makes it rain?”.​ Don’t be afraid to ask the students who didn’t get that response,
“What did those of you who didn’t know what makes it rain predict, that caused
the rain?”
H. After the discussion has died down, this is a good opportunity for the children to be
assessed observationally. Tell the children, ​“Close your eyes and keep your heads
 down. Think about how well you understand the water cycle, and why it rains.
By holding up one hand, show how well you understand the water cycle by
holding up 1 finger if you don’t understand it at all, 3 fingers if you kind of
understand, and 5 fingers if you could share to the class what happens in the
water cycle.
I. After the class has voted on their understanding, the class will all create a model of the
water cycle on a plastic baggie. The students will be able to write down the different
stages of the water cycle on the baggie. Along with the stages, the children will be
drawing clouds to pair with condensation that will occur in the bag, and draw rain to
represent the precipitation that occurs when the baggie is tapped. Collection will take
place at the bottom of the baggie where all of the water is held, and then the
evaporation will be shown with the beginning stages of condensation. Each stage
should have an arrow going from one stage to the next. Finally, the baggies will be
hung on the window for the different stages of the water cycle to occur, so that the
children can interact with them throughout the unit.
J. To close up the lesson, the teacher will leave the vocabulary definitions on the board,
as this is new information to the students. The teacher will ask the students to return to
their seats for a quick project.
a. Once all of the children have returned to their seats, pass out the outline of the
water cycle and ask the children to fill out the states of matter that water is in
during the change, by writing the words in the word bank into the
corresponding red boxes next to the water cycle. Teacher will say, ​“Please
work on this individually. You will use the words in the word bank and
place them into the correct place on the graphic organizer. You will match
each state with the corresponding state that water is in at each part of the
water cycle.
K. Teacher will direct the children, ​“Please bring your outline to the “turn in” box and
return to your seats to sit quietly until everyone is finished.”

Closure/Summarizing Strategies:
A. Ask the children, ​“Are there any more questions that you have about the states of
matter or the water cycle?”
B. When it is time for the children to switch subjects, tell the children, ​“Tomorrow we
will be talking about the different properties of objects that surround us. One
property of objects is their texture. When you are home tonight, find something
that is smooth, and small enough to bring in your backpack. Make sure it is
school appropriate, and if you are unsure, you can have your parents email me.”

Accommodations/Differentiation:
A. For a student that has a visual disability, the book can be expanded on the board for
that student to be able to see the different images, as well as read the words. If this
can’t be done with clear enough resolution, we can have another copy of the story for
that student to use their magnifier on their own to read along with the teacher. This
magnifier can also be used while the student is working on their water cycle, in
allowing for them to draw on the baggie and write without having any issues.
Materials/Resources:
● Pencil
● Inquiry Sheet:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MTfvnWOpRv8Sbpg2RSgu7DXz5WpXS2zIIv
CbOQGgeWg/edit?usp=sharing
● Water Cycle States Assessment Sheet: ​Attached in separate document
● Intro Video: ​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvvNruJ-8LY
● Brandt, K. (1982). What Makes It Rain: The Story Of A Raindrop. Troll Associates.
● Smart Board/ Video Projector
● Post-it Notes
● Dictionary: ​https://kids.britannica.com/kids/browse/dictionary
Name:

Before Video

1. What will happen to the water when it is left in the sun? Explain why.

2. What will happen to the salt that is mixed with the water? Explain why.

During Video

1. Write down what is happening to the salt water mixture

After Video

1. What actually happened to the water and salt?

2. Why do you think this happened?

3. How long do you think this took?

Labeling and The student The student The student The student did
Illustrations correctly labeled correctly labeled correctly labeled not correctly
each state of each state of each state of label each state
matter and drew matter and drew matter and drew of matter and did
the correct the correct the correct not draw the
illustrations for illustrations for illustrations, but correct
the different the different forgot to add a illustrations for
steps of the steps of the visual element, the different
water cycle, and water cycle, but label, or arrow steps of the
was very neat was not neat guiding the water cycle.
and easy to and easy to cycle. Unorganized
follow. follow. work.

Effort and The student The student The student did The student did
Time clearly took their clearly took their not take their not take their
time in creating time in creating time in creating time in producing
their diagram, as their diagram, the diagram, but their diagram,
well as put all of and put effort they did put and displayed
their effort into into creating effort into minimal effort
creating a visual their visual that making the bag when creating
that was easy to was able to be display the their diagram,
follow and followed. diagram of the but it was still
effective for the water cycle. understandable.
lesson.

Organization The diagram The diagram The diagram The diagram was
was organized in was organized was organized unorganized and
an easy to follow in an easy to in an easy to hard to follow.
format as follow format as follow format as They did not
provided to the provided to the provided to the follow the
children in the children in the children in the example
example. Words example. example. provided, and
and images were Words and Words and went off on a
all paired clearly images were not images were all tangent.
and arrows were clear and were paired but not Student’s work
in correct hard to identify. easily identified, was sloppy and
placement. and arrows hard to follow.
were forgotten.
Reflective Response:
Report of Student Learning Target/Objectives Proficiency Levels

Remediation Plan (if applicable)

Personal Reflection Questions

Additional reflection/thoughts