Mizu no jyunkan

OBJECTIVES

Students will learn the key words related to the water cycle. They will then learn to describe the water cycle process.

LANGUAGE

Water cycle vocabulary, expressing process with ～くなります、___になります

ACTIVITY 1

The teacher shows the water cycle picture (Tasksheet 5) on OHT and presents the key words by pointing to them and to the corresponding sections on the picture. Alternatively, students can come out to the front and point out on the picture the words they know, and try to guess the others. Then all students can cut out the keywords and stick them onto the appropriate sections of the picture.

Teacher Talk:

	これは、水(みず)のじゅんかんです。	This is the water cycle.
	たいようをみせてください。….うみは？	Show me the sun. ...What about the sea?
	すいじょうきは何(なん)でしょう。	What is 「すいじょうき」, do you think?
	はい、いいですね。	Yes, that's right.

Tasksheet 5

Tasksheet 5 (PDF:129kb)

ACTIVITY 2

1.	Using OHTs or enlargements of the diagrams together with the sentence cards on Tasksheets 6 and 7, the teacher explains the process of the water cycle step by step. If appropriate, the pattern ～くなる、　＿になる (to become, turn into) can be focused on and reinforced.
2.	Students in pairs or groups are given a set of jumbled sentence cards cut out from Tasksheets 6 and 7, and they put the cards in the right order. The teacher checks them and/or the students read them out.

水(みず)はたいようであたたかくなります。	The water becomes warm from the sun.
水(みず)はすいじょうきになります。	The water turns into water vapour.
すいじょうきは上(うえ)に上(あ)がります。	The water vapour goes up.
すいじょうきはつめたくなります。	The water vapour cools down.
小(ちい)さい水(みず)のつぶができます。	Little droplets of water are formed.
つぶはくもになります。	The droplets turn into clouds.
くもはゆきやあめになります。	The clouds turn into snow and rain.
あめはじめんやうみにおちます。	The rain falls onto the earth and sea.

Teacher Talk:

	水(みず)のじゅんかんのせつめいです This is an explanation of the water cycle.
	じゅんばんにならべてください。いち、に、さん…… Put in the right order. 1, 2, 3...

Tasksheet 6

Tasksheet 7

Tasksheet 6 (PDF:154kb)

Tasksheet 7 (PDF:119 kb)

ACTIVITY 3

Conduct a science experiment in Japanese! Students can compare the language of the 3 steps of the experiment with the corresponding steps in the water cycle. Tasksheet 8 can be used to reinforce words and expressions.

Teacher Talk:

	きょうはじっけんします。 Today we're doing an experiment.
	これはこおりです。 This is ice.
	まず、おゆをわかします。 First we boil the water.
	すいじょうきになりましたね。 It's become water vapour, hasn't it?
	そして、こおりを上(うえ)におきます。 Then we put the ice on top of it.
	どうなりますか。 What happens?

Tasksheet 8

Tasksheet 8 (PDF:145kb)

EXTENSION

1. Kanji

Students' awareness of kanji can be raised by showing how kanji come in 'families'.
雨 is the kanji for 雨(あめ), rain, and comes from a picture of rain falling from a cloud.

This kanji, in a slightly contracted form, forms part of other kanji with meanings related to 'rain'.

→ EG. 雪(ゆき) - 雲(くも)

水(みず) is the kanji forみず, water, and comes from a picture of water flowing.

This kanji, in a slightly different form, forms part of many kanji in the 'water family'. 　

→ EG. 海(うみ) - -湖(みずうみ)

Teacher Talk:

	かんじはえからきました。 Kanji comes from pictures.
	あめはどんなえですか。 What picture isあめ?
	水(みず)は？ What about みず?

2. Water in Society

The map (Tasksheet 5) shows a hydro-electric power station水力発電所(すいりょくはつでんしょ)and water works浄水場(じょうすいじょう).

Advanced students can do a project on uses of water in their region or state such as: [水道(すいどう) Water works], [電気(でんき)Electricity]