How to Make a Model of the Water Cycle for Kids

You and your child can build a working water cycle model.

Students learn some subjects, like science, more easily through the use of visual aids and working models. These learning tools may be especially informative if your child helps construct them. If he is learning about the water cycle in science class, building a working model together can be a great way to teach him the process while keeping him interested with a fun, hands-on activity. Best of all, you can use materials you probably already have at home.

Things You'll Need

• 3 two-liter soda bottles with caps
• Scissors
• Drill
• Cotton rag or an old t-shirt
• Soil
• Grass seeds
• Measuring cup
• Tape (optional)

Instructions

Steps for the Parent

1. Remove the labels from the soda bottles and label the bottles 1, 2 and 3.

2. Cut the top off Bottle 1 just below the curve, approximately five inches down.

3. Cut the bottom off Bottle 2 just above the curve, approximately two inches up.

4. Remove all of the bottle caps and drill a hole in one of them. Set them aside.

5. Cut the rag or old t-shirt into two strips, each measuring 30 centimeters long.

Steps for the Child

1. Fold one of the cotton strips in half and pull the fold through the cap with the hole drilled into it so that the looped end of the cloth comes through the open end of the cap and about 10 centimeters of cloth hang out of the flat side of the cap. Screw the cap onto Bottle 2.

2. Tie the other cotton strip around the neck of Bottle 3 so that about 10 centimeters of cloth hangs off the outside of the bottle.

3. Fill Bottle 1 with 250 milliliters of water.

4. Fill Bottle 2 with about a cup of soil. Sprinkle some of the grass seed on top and press one of the bottle caps into the soil.

5. Fill Bottle 3 with 200 milliliters of water and put the last cap on it.

6. Insert the neck of Bottle 3 into the cut opening of Bottle 2. Then insert the neck of Bottle 2 into the cut opening of Bottle 1. The cloth hanging from Bottle 3 should hang just above the bottle cap in the soil in Bottle 2, and the cloth hanging from Bottle 2 should dip into the water in Bottle 1.

7. Tape the bottles if you wish, and place them near a window where they receive plenty of sunlight.

References

• Science for Ohio: How Can You Make a Model of the Water Cycle?