Objective:

• The students will recognize that water evaporates and moves from the Earth to the sky

Materials:

• Electric pan
• Water
• Claris Works (Spreadsheet Application)
• Digital Camera
• Internet access
• Environment Protection Agency a great resource for teachers for water cycle and water activities

Procedure:

1. Go to EPals  to locate a Epals for the students, then, about a week before this activity, the students will write to their Epals and their teacher about the experiment.  The students  will ask the teacher to survey his or her students as to what will happen to the water when heat has been applied in the following experiment. The students will select between: nothing happens, water disappears, or more water will be added. The data will be entered on a spreadsheet so that the EPal data can be compared with the classroom students' responses.

2. Before the experiment :
Predict what will happen to the water when heat has been applied. Choose from: nothing happens, water disappears, or more water will be added. Enter the data on a Spreadsheet. Students will use spreadsheet data to create a graph.
Compare student responses with their EPal pal responses.

3. Put water on an electric pan and bring it to a boil. Continue boiling water until it evaporates.
Take pictures throughout the experiment.

4. Observe what happens. Establish a discussion about what happened to the water.

5. Students will write to their EPals pals about what they observed and explain how water vapor rises into the air. Take pictures with the digital camera and attach pictures with their email.
 
Evaluation:

• The students will write to their EPals and explain what happens to water when heat is applied to it. Students and teacher will edit and proof email before sending.

Home Learning:

• Visit Sky.com click on Weather and read about the weather in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Then click on World and read about the weather in a different country. Share data with class; compare to weather in your city.

Extension Activity:

• Visit Water in the City  to learn about the water cycle; click on Water Science, then The Water Cycle at Work
• Scroll down and read and answer the question: Does water ever stop moving? Answer: No, snow and rain fall to the earth from clouds. The rain and melted snow run downhill into rivers and lakes, sometimes crashing over waterfalls. Eventually the water flows into the ocean. During evaporation, the water turns from liquid into gas, and moves from oceans and lakes into the atmosphere where it forms clouds. Then the cycle begins all over again
• Create A Water Cycle Flow Chart
•  Write to explain what would happen to water if the sun did not not exist 
  Answer: Water would not evaporate

• Explain how the heat from the sun makes the water evaporate. 
  Answer: The water in the puddles, streams, lakes and oceans gets warm. It changes to vapor, like steam rising out of a boiling water.

Field Trip: Contact a local TV studio or radio station and arrange for a meteorologist to visit the class as a guest speaker.