The Never-Ending Cycle
Explore the power of the water cycle with this simple, hands-on experiment. Add salt to water, place it in the sunlight and watch what happens over several days. Along the way, discover how evaporation can naturally remove some pollutants and keep water moving through Earth’s never-ending cycle.
- The amount of water on Earth has always remained basically the same.
- Water is constantly moving in the water cycle.
- During the water cycle, some pollutants can be removed naturally.
Learning Objectives:
- Observe the steps of a water cycle.
- Describe what happens to the water.
- Observe how evaporation can naturally clean water.
Materials:
- 1 clear plastic cup
- Salt
- Water
- Spoon
- 1 teaspoon
- 1/4 teaspoon
Procedure:
- Pour 2 teaspoons of water into your clear plastic cup.
- Add 1/4 teaspoon of salt to the water in the cup.
- Using the spoon, stir the water until the salt completely dissolves.
- Think about how you can remove the salt from the water.
- Place the cup onto a counter or windowsill with direct sunlight.
- Leave the cup in the selected spot for at least 5 days.
- Make observations daily.
Discussion Questions
- In what ways can you remove the salt? Is there a faster way?
- What happened to the water after 5 days?
- How does this help understand how the water cycle can help clean water on earth?
- Is the water that evaporates from the ocean salty?
- What part of the water cycle did this experiment demonstrate?
Quick Links
Where are Activities Available?
We partner with over 600 educational organizations.
See our school locator