Anticipatory Set:
Prepare the zipper style bag and plastic cup with identical amounts of water in them. Hold up zipper style plastic bag with water in it.  Ask learners how much water is in the bag.  Allow the learners to hold and examine the bag.  Show learners the plastic cup of water, asking again how much is in the cup?  Emphasize that it is very difficult to tell how much water is really there just by looking with your eyes.

• Read learners the book Water: Up, Down, and All Around.  This book will review the water cycle as well as talk about the three states of water.
  
  
• Have learners recall the states of water covered in the book.  Use the States of Matter That Water Becomes - posters (see Attachment One) to illustrate each state.  Be sure to emphasize that water has no definite form; it takes on the shape of the object in which it resides.
  
  
• Revisit the water in the plastic cup and plastic bag.  Ask learners: Which object contains more water?  Record results in graph form using the Bag/Cup Graph (see Attachment Two).  Measure the water from the bag and the cup using the measuring cups.  The amount of water will be the same, reinforcing the fact that water has no definite shape.
  
  
• Tell learners that it is important to know how much precipitation occurs.  By keeping track of the amount of precipitation that an area receives, people can be better conservationists.  Review the word conservation and why it is important to conserve water.  Remind them that by practicing water conservation they are being good stewards of the water and the Earth’s resources.  There are special people that keep track of the amount that falls. They are called meteorologists. Teacher Note: This is a great time for the guest speaker or field trip.
  
  
• Learners should know when the water cycle occurs and that water is continually evaporating, condensing and precipitating.  Water doesn’t always fall back to Earth from the point of evaporation. Some areas receive more water than others.  Each place needs a different amount of water.  So it is important to know how much precipitation occurs in each area.  This information tells us which places need to work harder to conserve water, so that there is enough to live.
  
  
• Tell learners that as a class you will be tracking the precipitation of your area.  Show them the rain gauge.  As a class find a safe outdoor place to put the gauge.  Check it daily for precipitation.  Keep track of the measurements so you will know how much precipitation has fallen for the month.
  
  
• Read learners the book Water: Up, Down, and All Around.  This book will review the water cycle as well as talk about the three states of water.

Use two identical plants.  Place them in a spot where they receive adequate light and will be safe from harm.  Water one plant appropriately and do not water the other plant. Learners will see very quickly why water is essential to living things.  They will also see the effect that a lack of water could have on the land around them.
Learners may enjoy graphing the weather as part of their calendar activities. Use Precipitation Gauge Measurements for the Month (See Attachment Three) to collect data and then use the Precipitation Graph (See Attachment Four) to chart the precipitation.
This may also be an activity that could be completed as part of a homework assignment.