A Year 4 science vocabulary sheet on the water cycle, over three pages. Pupils match eight key words to eight meanings written in mixed order, then fill six gaps in a short paragraph that follows water from the sea to the clouds, down as rain and back again. The words include transpiration, runoff and temperature as well as the four main stages. The third page holds the key. It supports the England National Curriculum Year 4 objective on evaporation and condensation.
Science - States of matter
“identify the part played by evaporation and condensation in the water cycle and associate the rate of evaporation with temperature”
Meanings C, G and D define evaporation, condensation and water vapour, and gaps 1 to 3 use those words in a sentence about the Sun heating the sea. The rate of evaporation is not tested.
A table of eight words: evaporation, condensation, precipitation, collection, water vapour, transpiration, runoff and temperature. Pupils write the letter, A to H, of the meaning that fits, such as water released by plants through their leaves.
Six gaps in a paragraph that begins The Sun heats the sea. The word bank holds condenses, evaporates, collection, vapour, precipitation and runoff. A photo of a coastline with rain over a mountain sits below the text.
Each word with its letter and meaning, then the six gap words in order.
Word wall start
Put the eight words on the wall before pupils begin and ask them to read each meaning aloud to a partner.
Transpiration
Pupils are unlikely to know transpiration. Tie a clear bag round a leafy branch for a day and show the water inside, then do meaning A.
Next-day recall
Cover the word bank the next morning and let pupils fill the paragraph from memory.
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