Get Your ALL ACCESS Shop Pass here →
Water Cycle In A Bag
Learn about the water cycle with this easy water cycle in a bag experiment and printable water cycle worksheet. Find out what the sun’s role is in the water cycle and what evaporation and condensation are. We have lots of do-able and fun weather activities for kids!
How To Set Up Water Cycle In A Bag
💡 Make sure to check out these other fun earth science activities .
- Water cycle template (see below)
- Zip top bag
- Blue food coloring
Instructions:
STEP 1: Print out and color the water cycle worksheet.
STEP 2: Cut the water cycle diagram out and tape it to the back of a zip top plastic bag.
STEP 3: Mix 1/4 cup of water with 2 drops of blue food coloring and pour into the bag and seal.
STEP 3: Tape the bag to a sunny window and wait.
STEP 4: Check your bag in the morning, mid day, and again at night and record what you see. Did you notice any changes?
Free Printable Water Cycle In A Bag Worksheet!
The Steps of The Water Cycle
The water cycle is a natural process that describes how water moves and changes states between liquid, vapor (gas), and solid (ice) on Earth.
Learn more about states of matter .
Evaporation
The water cycle works when the sun heats up a body of water and some of the water evaporates into the air. This might be water from lakes, streams, oceans, rivers, run off etc. The liquid water goes up into the air in the form of steam or vapor (water vapor).
Condensation
When this vapor hits cooler air it changes back to its liquid form and creates clouds. This part of the water cycle is called condensation.
Related Activity: Rain Cloud In A Jar
Precipitation
When so much of the water vapor has condensed and the clouds are heavy, the liquid falls back down to the earth in the form of precipitation. Precipitation can be in the form of rain, hail, sleet or snow.
After precipitation, water can flow over the land, forming streams and rivers. This is called runoff. Picture raindrops flowing down the street or through a garden into a stream.
Related Activity: Stormwater Runoff Demonstration
The water from runoff collects in oceans, lakes, and rivers, starting the cycle again. It’s like a giant water reservoir that holds all the water until the sun warms it up and turns it into vapor, starting the process over.
Transpiration
Another way water returns to the atmosphere is through transpiration. Plants absorb water from the soil through their roots and release it into the air as water vapor through tiny openings in their leaves.
Related Activity: How Plants Breathe
The water cycle is a continuous process. Water from the Earth’s surface evaporates, forms clouds, falls back as precipitation, and repeats the cycle over and over again.
Create your own water cycle below with our free printable water cycle diagram. Find out what happens to the water you add to your bag. Let’s get started!
More Fun Weather Activities For Kids
When kids finish making their rain gauge, explore more weather science with one of these ideas below. You can find all our weather activities here!
Learn how a tornado forms with a simple tornado in a bottle .
Make a DIY anemometer to measure the direction of wind.
Explore where rain comes from .
Investigate how different factors affect water evaporation .
Make a DIY rain gauge to measure local rainfall.
Build a windmill from paper cups and straws.
Identify the layers of the atmosphere with these printable worksheets.
Set up a water cycle in a bottle or a water cycle in a bag for weather science.
Printable Science Projects For Kids
If you’re looking to grab all of our printable science projects in one convenient place plus exclusive worksheets and bonuses like a STEAM Project pack, our Science Project Pack is what you need! Over 300+ Pages!
- 90+ classic science activities with journal pages, supply lists, set up and process, and science information. NEW! Activity-specific observation pages!
- Best science practices posters and our original science method process folders for extra alternatives!
- Be a Collector activities pack introduces kids to the world of making collections through the eyes of a scientist. What will they collect first?
- Know the Words Science vocabulary pack includes flashcards, crosswords, and word searches that illuminate keywords in the experiments!
- My science journal writing prompts explore what it means to be a scientist!!
- Bonus STEAM Project Pack: Art meets science with doable projects!
- Bonus Quick Grab Packs for Biology, Earth Science, Chemistry, and Physics
Water Cycle in a Bag Experiment
Why are there clouds in the sky? Where does rain come from? With the water cycle in a bag experiment, you can answer your kids’ questions and satisfy their curiosity about the water cycle.
STEM concept : Water cycle Challenge : Easy Messiness: Low
• ziplock bag • permanent marker • water • blue food coloring • clear tape
Steps to follow
1. Use colored markers to draw a sky on the upper half of your ziplock bag. Include clouds and the sun. 2. Fill a cup with water and add a few drops of blue food coloring. 3. Pour the blue-colored water into the bag and zip it tightly so no water escapes. 4. Using some clear tape, hang the bag outside or on a sunny window. 5. Check the bag after a couple of hours. You can also check again the next day. You will eventually start to see drops of water sticking to the side of the bag. Some will be in the “clouds” and other drops will be coming down like rain.
The science behind the experiment
After a couple of hours, you will be able to observe some water droplets rising and sticking to the sides of the bag. Eventually, these droplets will fall back down to the pool of water at the bottom of the bag, just like how the water cycle happens in nature.
The water cycle starts with Earth’s water like those in lakes, seas, rivers, and underground. Because of the sun’s heat, water is changed into vapor and rises into the atmosphere in a process called evaporation .
After the warm water vapor evaporates, it starts to cool down and change back to liquid. They begin to form clouds. This process is called condensation .
When the clouds get too heavy with water droplets, it begins to rain or snow. Water falls back down to Earth in a process called precipitation .
Learning about the water cycle in a unique way like this can make kids appreciate the value of this precious resource even more!
Contributors
Copyright @smorescience . All rights reserved. Do not copy, cite, publish, or distribute this content without permission.
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Subscribe to our mailing list to get updates to your email inbox..
Monthly Newsletter
Related Posts
Top 6 human diseases that can infect your cat or dog: protecting your pets.
How Schools Are Using Technology to Keep Kids Healthy
How Much Energy Does It Take To Carry A Baby? We Have a Scientific Answer
Seamounts On Nazca Ridge In The Southeast Pacific Are A Deep-Sea Biodiversity Hotspot, Home To 20 New Species
- Privacy Policy
- Science Kits
- Affiliate Login
Cave Of The Mounds
Science Experiment: Water Cycle in a Bag
Water cycle in a bag.
One of the main components of hydrology that sticks in my mind is the water cycle. Water is amazing! It changes form over and over again. As creatures on this Earth, we observe water in its different forms almost every day. Whether it’s raining or in clouds, moisture on windows, or
pools of water built up. In this activity, we will try to identify the components of the water cycle and observe the water cycle by constructing a simple, miniature model.
Little itty bitty water molecules are always on the move in what is called the water cycle or hydrologic cycle. The heat from the sun causes the water to evaporate and become a vapor. As the water vapor cools down, it condenses, forming tiny droplets that gather to form clouds. Have you seen those before? I told you you’d witness the water cycle every day. As the droplets get larger, they become heavier causing them to fall to the ground as precipitation (like rain, sleet, or, my least favorite, snow). Some of this precipitation joins lakes and streams. This is called surface water. Other times some of it soaks into the ground where it becomes groundwater. The process of water soaking into the ground is called infiltration, or recharge.
Knowing this will help in explaining the process to those who are not familiar or children.
You will need: Clear Plastic Bag (zipper stule, sandwich size), Water (2 Tbsp), Tablespoon, Rubberband or twist-tie, Masking Tape.
- Prepare your supplies all together so the process goes quicker and smoother. I’d have a cup of water to the side to make it easier to scoop the water, especially with smaller children.
- Pour 2 tablespoons of water into a clear plastic bag.
- Blow air (not spit) inside the bag with your mouth and quickly seal the bag closed with a rubber band, twist-tie, or zipper-closure. DO NOT POP THE BAG! It may be tempting but it ruins the whole experiment.
- Place the bag on a sunny window ledge or tape directly to the window pane using that masking tape. Duct tape will be too sticky and scotch will not support the weight very well. . Periodically look at the bag throughout the day. What changes do you see? Jot down the results into a notebook.
- For instant results, make two bags. Put cold water in the first bag and hot water in the second bag. Compare the two bags. Again, document the observations in your science journal.
- Uncategorized
- Space science
- States of matter
- Mixtures and solutions
- Light and optics
- Forces and motion
- Electricity
- The animal kingdom
- Habitates and ecosystems
- valentine's day
- St. Patrics day
- Back to school
- 4th of July
- Experiments
- Weather and climate
- Earth's Structure
- Crafts and DIY
- Class managements
Get the Latest Straight to Your Inbox:
Water cycle in a bag
Discover the wonders of the water cycle with a simple and captivating experiment that brings the cycle to life right on your classroom window!
Using just a few common items, you can create a visual representation of evaporation, condensation, and precipitation. This hands-on activity will not only engage your students’ creativity but also solidify their understanding of one of nature’s most important processes.
Materials :
- Ziplock bag
- Permanent, non-erasable marker
- A small amount of water
- A sunny window that receives sunlight
What to do?
- Draw an ocean, the sun, and some clouds on the bag. Feel free to add more details as you like.
- Fill the bag with about 3 cm of water, remove almost all the air, and seal it tightly.
- Stick the bag to a window that gets sunlight and wait patiently.
How does this happen?
The water cycle is a process that occurs in nature and describes the circular path that water molecules take. The sun’s rays hit water sources and heat the water molecules. The water molecules evaporate, rise into the atmosphere, where they condense into tiny droplets, and fall back down as precipitation (rain, hail, snow). These precipitations eventually return to the water sources. The water undergoes a change of state in a continuous cycle. As temperatures rise, so does the rate of water evaporation. The water vapor in the air rises high where the temperatures drop, and the vapors condense into tiny water droplets. These droplets form clouds that are carried by the wind to the land where they rain down on us.
<Download the story of a drop for your students>
We’d love to showcase your creativity, share pictures of your experiments with us, and together, we can inspire young scientists everywhere.
Looking for more water cycle ideas?
The water cycle – cards & riddles
Water cycle Bingo game
Water cycle Hand on activities – blog post
View my latest posts:
Back to School Checklist for Science Teachers: Setting Up for Success
Engaging Science Learning through Games
Water cycle booklet
Albedo in Action: Balloon Pop Test
Like & follow:, stay in touch: [email protected].
Lets stay in touch!
“Subscribe now and never miss out on our exciting science experiments and educational insights!”
IMAGES
VIDEO