Lesson 28 of 84 · The Water Cycle
Experiment⭐ 30 XPDeserts: Land of Extremes
The Water Cycle.
🎯 Your mission
Set it up. Test it. Be amazed.
⚡ The twist
Nature loves to surprise the careful watcher.
Mind = Blown
🔬 The more you look, the more nature shows you.
Make a hypothesis first
Before you start: write down what you think will happen, and why.
What You'll Learn
Deserts receive less than 25 centimeters of rain per year. Hot deserts have extreme daytime temperatures, while cold deserts like Antarctica are dry but freezing.
Key Words
- climate
- precipitation
Materials Needed
- rain gauge
- cotton balls
- food coloring
- clear container
Safety First
- Tie back long hair before starting the experiment.
- Protect your work surface with newspaper or plastic.
- Adult supervision recommended.
Steps
Read the introduction and identify the main idea of this lesson.
Build a working model of a volcano using baking soda and vinegar. Observe the eruption and explain what causes real volcanic eruptions.
Note any unexpected results and think about why they happened.
Share your findings with the class or a partner and discuss what you learned.
Check Your Understanding
Question 1
1 of 3What is a watershed?
Where you see this in real life
This shows up in your everyday life more than you'd think.
Stretch Challenge
Try this in real life this week.
Try one experiment in real life this week — even a tiny one.
For the dinner table
“What's the most surprising thing you learned today?”
Next Smart Experiment
We'll pick an experiment that matches exactly how you're thinking right now.
Share this experiment
Send it to a parent who's looking for a 10-minute kitchen science win.
Checkout complete lesson on The Water Cycle for 5th Grade
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