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Materials
- bricks, rocks, and pebbles
- pails, buckets, and other large containers
- pictures of waterfalls from books or downloaded from the Internet (both small and large waterfalls)
- chart labeled, “Bodies of Water”
Vocabulary
Encourage children to use words related to water such as pour, squirt, flow, splash, absorb, shape, and science process words such as observe, notice, compare, same, different, change, test, and predict.
Directions
Tell children that they will make waterfalls. Ask if any of them have seen one. What was it like? Show them images of waterfalls. Ask them to describe what happens to the water as it goes over the edge of the waterfall.
- Go outside and divide children into pairs. Show them the materials and ask them to think of a way to make a waterfall. They can use the materials or they can find something outside that would be good for making a waterfall (stairs, the side of a sandbox, a curb).
- Take photos/videos of their waterfalls, which you can show later during Closing Circle.
- Before going inside, do a demonstration of water dropping from two different heights (about three feet from the ground and then as high as you can manage it). Ask, Do you notice any difference when I pour the water from a higher spot? What do you think is different?
Reflect and Share
Ask, How did you make your waterfall? What do you like about it? What do you think is the difference between a stream and a waterfall? What do you like about waterfalls? Add “waterfall” to your “Bodies of Water” chart.
