General Objective-Describe how waters exists in three states on the Earth’s surface.

Lesson Objective-Students will observe and understand the process of evaporation.

Motivator-Discuss with students what would happen if there were other things mixed

Salt

Paper

Containers

Water

Paint brushes

Food coloring

Measuring cups

2 days

Day One

1. Measure ¼ cup of salt into a container.
2. Add ¼ cup warm water to the salt.
3. Add several drops of food coloring to the mixture. Giving all groups different colors.
4. Paint with the paint brushes a picture with the mixture. The students are allowed to paint anything that has water in it.
5. Lay the paintings to dry overnight.
6. The water will evaporate from the painting and the colored salt will stay on the paper.
7. Have the students write out what they predict will happen to their paintings and the salt and water.
8. The students will examine their paintings the next day and see what happened.

Day Two

9. The next day have the students observe what has happened to their paintings and the water that was in them. Have them document their observations on the same piece of paper from the day before.
10. Discuss what is evaporation and what causes it.
11. Discuss why the salt was left behind.
12. Relate the water cycle to the evaporation of the water on their painting.
13. Talk about what substances evaporate and what substances do not.
14. Have the students write a short summery of what happened to their paintings and how it relates to the water cycle.

Teaching Strategies-Discussion, observation, investigation/inquiry, guided discovery.

• Evaporation-visible water being changed into invisible water.
• Mixture-different things being put together to become one thing.
• Water-the liquid that comes from clouds as rain and forms streams, lakes, seas, and oceans.
• Water cycle-when water leaves the Earth’s surface through evaporation.

Assessment-Graded homework, performance tasks, and discussions. Individual

Teaching and Learning Process-Observation, inference, prediction, recording,

1. You could also do an activity using food coloring and ice and just letting the icecubes melt on the paper. You would then let the paper sit in the sun and the water would evaporate.
2. Any lesson that includes the water cycle.
3. Have the students use watercolors to paint a picture of themselves swimming with water animals.

Hoover, E; Mercier, S. Primarily Earth AIMS Activities. AIMS Education Foundation. 1996

http://ericir.syr.edu/Virtual/Lessons/Science/Earth/EAR0020.html