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Water Unit
Cycle 1 - Level 1 & 2
During my stay at Emmanuel Christian School I taught grades one and two in French. Throughout this field experience I had the privilege of teaching French language, science, Ethics and Religious Culture, as well as bible study.
I therefore decided to begin a cross-curricular unit related to water.
Below you will find some photographs that will allow you to better understand the unit we worked on for three weeks.
When students completed their work they were allowed to go to this water station.
At this station I had a variety of texts that the students could read while they waited for their classmates to finish as well.
Here, I also offered colour-by-number and comprehension colouring pages that related to our water theme.
These posters were used after watching an episode of The Magic School Bus. The students had to use the posters and place them in the appropriate order.
 Our Observation Table |  Observation Journal - Page #1 |
|---|---|
 Observation Journal - Page #2 |  Observation Journal - Page #3 |
To begin our water unit we conducted an experiment.
On a Friday we began by measuring the same amount of water in two glasses. We placed one by the window ( in the sunlight) and the other under the teachers desk (in the shade).
The students then had to make a guess as to what they believe would happen to the water inside both cups over the weekend.
Some of their ideas:
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The water in the sun will boil
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The water in the shade will turn to ice
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The water in the sun will turn white
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The water in the shade will turn brown
On Monday we began by watching a Magic School Bus episode that described the water cycle in a very engaging way (as Miss.Frizzle always does).
We then observed the cups together. We measured the water left inside the cups and compared that to what we had placed in the cups on the previous Friday. After having watched the short film, the students were then able to explain why the water had disapeared from the cup in the sunlight.
The students filled in their observation journals and then spent time in the water station once they completed their work.
This is the observation journal the students used for this science experiment.
This is the lesson plan for the observation phase of the lesson.
Student Work - click photograph to enlarge it
We learned a catchy song to help us remember the different steps and the vocabulary related to the water cycle too!
We even created beads bracelets to help us remember the water cycle!
Students absolutely loved this activity!
After all the fun we needed to talk about real issues. In Ethics we looked at how people from around the world do not have access to the water supply we do. We discussed their daily struggle to find portable water, as well as habits we could begin or stop in order to limit wasting water at home.
Here is the PowerPoint that was used to discuss this topic.
Here are discussion questions we used to share ideas/suggestions
Oral presentation evaluation rubric
After all of that learning, it was time to show our friends all that we knew about respectful and responsible water consumption!
Students presented a 2 minute oral presentation explaining a habit that they would make or break in order to save water.
I could not believe how well they prepared and all the fantastic ideas that they had to share with their friends!
We decorated the walls outside the classrooms to show all the different ways we can preserve water.
The students loved seeing their work being showcased to the whole school considering they were so proud of their hard work. I do not blame them, they had a lot to be proud of!
Even the highschool students would stop and read these beautiful posters.
Hopefully they learned from the cycle one students and will also be more responsible with their water consumption from here on out.
Lastly, we concluded our water unit with a well-deserve tsunami intake of sugar and fun!