Title: Devising the Water Cycle
Author: Michael Avila
Integrated Objective: Students will demonstrate their ability to collaborate and understand the water cycle by devising an original water cycle play by asking questions about character and plot.
- Theater Objective: Students will demonstrate their ability to collaborate by devising an original play by asking questions about character and plot.
- Science Objective: Students will demonstrate their understanding of the water cycle by creating a water cycle piece.
Standards:
Standard Cr2-4.a. Collaborate to devise original ideas for a drama/theatre work by asking questions about characters and plots.
Standard 1 Objective 2 Describe the water cycle.
- Locate examples of evaporation and condensation in the water cycle (e.g., water evaporates when heated and clouds or dew forms when vapor is cooled).
- Describe the processes of evaporation, condensation, and precipitation as they relate to the water cycle.
- Identify locations that hold water as it passes through the water cycle (e.g., oceans, atmosphere, fresh surface water, snow, ice, and ground water).
Essential Questions: How do you devise in theatre? How do water molecules move when heated or cooled? Where do you find the effects of evaporation and condensation?
Materials: Open Space, Paper, Pencils, Water Cycle picture (or markers to draw it on board)
Hook/Pre-Assessment: Becoming Water
- Find your own spot in the room
- Now imagine yourself as a water molecule
- Start my moving your head, how would a water molecule move its head and neck
- Now move your shoulders like a water molecule. Arms. Hands. Hips, Legs, Feet, Toes.
- Begin to move around the room as a water molecule. What kind of pathways does water make. Does water change levels? Remember to keep moving all parts of your body as a water molecule. When you pass by another water molecule, how do you respond?
- The room is starting to heat up and the ice melts. But the room keeps heating up. Hotter and hotter until all of the water in the room does what: evaporates. What does water turn into after evaporating? Water vapor. How does water vapor move differently from liquid water? More quickly, floating, bouncing off walls.
- Now the room is cooling down a little bit and the water molecules change into liquid again. This is called what? Condensation.
- The room is becoming colder. How does this affect a water molecule? Colder and colder until it changes states. Shout out the name of frozen water: ice.
- Water molecules do not stop moving when frozen, they just move slower. What kind of structure do water molecules form when frozen? Crystalized structures. Think about a snowflake, a lot of intricate straight lines. How can you move like water molecules in a crystalized structure? Sharp movements, angular. Now freeze completely.
Discussion/Transition
- Let’s group up and talk about your experience
- How did you show you were a water molecule? What did you discover about how water molecules move?
Lesson: Reviewing the Water Cycle
- When you were water molecules, I tested in about some of the water cycle vocabulary. Let’s review the entire water cycle so we can do more drama work with it.
- Water cycle picture with missing words
- Invite students up to fill in words (evaporation, condensation, participation)
- What is evaporation? When water is heated, it becomes water vapor
- Where does water vapor go, what do they become when they group together? (clouds)
- What is condensation? When water vapor cools, it turns back into liquid water.
- Where can you find the effects of condensation? (Dew on leaves, water drops on the outside of a can)
- What is the participation? (Rain or snow)
Activity: Devising
- We going to devise a performance about the water cycle
- Devising means improvising a scene. Creating a play by pretending.
- Pass out paper and pencils
- Before we begin devising, write down some questions that you could ask a water molecule that is going to through the water cycle. Also, write down questions that you have about the process of the water cycle and making it into a play?
- Turn to a partner and read your questions. Try to answer them together!
- Now as a group, are there any interesting or difficult questions we could discuss as a class?
- Next, we are going to dividing into three groups: Evaporation, Condensation, and Precipitation.
- In your groups, start devising a short scene about your word. How can you move your bodies in interesting ways to show your part of the water cycle? How can you answer some of your questions?
- Give time to devise
Assessment:
- Each group shares their scene. (Record scenes to help students remember them in future lessons)
- Did any new questions come up while watching the scenes? (questions about character and plot)