Think you know the water cycle? Take a closer look at the illustration below. Then click on the picture to learn more.
Source: USGS
Water Cycle
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Category Archives: Water Cycle
National Weather Service Issues Fire Warnings
Students are not the only ones wanting a tropical storm to visit Florida. While students are looking for a hurricane day so they can stay home from school, firefighters are concerned that the lack of rain and current dry weather is increasing the risk of brush and forest fires.
The National Weather Service has issued Red Flag Warnings and Fire Weather Watches for much of Florida. The lack of tropical storms reaching Florida this year has resulted in drought conditions. Add to that our current low humidity levels and fires can start and spread very easily.
National Weather Service Watches and Warnings
Evaporation
Have you been watching the water cycle? As I’m writing this I look out my window, just past my computer screen, and see a couple of rain drops hitting the pool’s surface and I watch the rings as they stretch out across the water. But as the rings work their way towards the pool edge I notice how low the water level has fallen —- hmmm, evaporation I think, as the water cycle song runs through my head.
Here’s some quick pics from your latest inquiry ‘What Affects the Rate of Evaporation”.
Water Cycle Inquiry
The famous water cycle drawing (click to enlarge)
While some of you are working on your creative version of the water cycle song (dance?), which we’ll post here, we are moving on and looking more closely at the mechanisms of the water cycle.
The basics of the water cycle, those marked in red, should be familiar to most students. But how well do you really know the water cycle? Take a closer look, what’s happening? I wonder…..
Over the next several days we’ll conduct an investigation into what affects the rate of evaporation and perhaps try to answer another student’s question “Is rain clean?” If the water is polluted on the ground does the pollution go with the water when it evaporates? How do we get acid rain?
Are you still wondering about the water cycle? Have you begun your own investigation? Here is a great resource on the Water Cycle.
By Popular Demand
Here’s the best video of all time, well maybe not that good, but it is fun in class.
Learn the song, choreograph your moves and we can record your version in class.
Rain Water Collection
As part of our studies on the hydrosphere we’re trying to determine the amount (volume) of rain water that could be collected from the roof of our classroom building. So far students determined the average annual rainfall received in Winter Garden and the dimensions of the 400 building (see the gallery for pictures).
The challenge that remains is how to convert those measurements into typical units of volume (gallons or liters). Of course this might be complicated by having a mix of metric and standard measures (i.e. rainfall in inches and building dimensions in meters).
Looking for some extra credit? Then take this exercise one step further.
If the rate of rainfall is 1.5 inches per hour and it rains for 1/2 hour, how many 220 liter rain barrels will be required to collect all the run-off from the 400 building roof.
Submit your answer on a separate sheet of paper, showing all your calculations. Be sure to have your name (first and last), the date and period at the top of your paper and underline your answer. Turn in no later than Wednesday 9/26.