Water Cycle STEAM Story Time

Water Cycle STEAM Story Time

The following is an adaption of the report that I used in my Youth Literature Course. I edited or removed some information to make it more readable and less repetitive. If you have any questions, let me know. This report includes my plans, the actual story time that took place, and an evaluation/suggested improvements for the story time. 

For my STEAM programming, I will be taking over the STEAM Story Time that is hosted by the Southlake Public Library. The Library advertises it as “a hands on story time that introduces young children to early concepts of science, technology, engineering, arts and math.” My supervisor, Stacy, provided me with samples of previous sessions as well as on outline of how STEAM Story Time is to be conducted.

STEAM story times are hosted the second Friday of each month at 10 AM and 11 AM. Registration is required for this event and each session can have a maximum of 12 participants and their parents. The participants need to be between 3 and 5 years old.

The story time starts with the reading of a picture book which is tied into the topic being presented. Then a brief outline of the concept is given in Open Circle Time. After Open Circle Time, the participants get to visit three stations that give hands on examples of the STEAM concept. The stations are intended to be simplistic enough for the preschoolers understand; however, parents are encouraged to help their children as well. Finally, everyone comes back together for a recap in Ending Circle Time.

For my STEAM story time, I will be going over the concept of the Water Cycle. Because my audience is very young, I am only going to be trying to cover the most basic ideas that go into the water cycle: evaporation, condensation, and precipitation.

Book Used: Salas, L.P. (2014). Water Can Be…. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publishing Group.

Story Time Outline:

• Open Circle Time
• Greeting
• Because I am new to the children, I am going to use this time to introduce myself along with the concept that will be used in the stations.
• Read Water Can Be…
• Felt Board: Building the Water Cycle
• I will be walking the children through the water cycle and pointing out my three main concepts: precipitation, condensation, and evaporation. I am planning on using audience participation when assembling my water cycle because some of the children may have previously been exposed to the concepts. 
• Dismiss to Stations
• All three stations were being used simultaneously and there was no set time that participants needed to stay at each station. When they finished a station, the participants simply moved to the next one. That way they could take as long or as short of time as they needed to complete each one.
• Hand Stamps
• Stacy traditionally stamps the children’s hands as they leave with a themed stamp. The kids love it. For my story times, I will be using a sun stamp so that it ties into the evaporation portion of my lesson.
• Dismissal
• Hand out the Water Cycle in the Bag activity and briefly review instructions. 

Station 1: Make it Rain – Cloud Demonstration

image used from thepinterestedparent.com

Concept:

The idea of this demonstration is to show that water must gather in a cloud before it rains. It is depicting condensation and precipitation.

Supplies Needed:

• Clear glass jars 
• Sponges
• Blue food coloring
• Water
• Squirt Bottle
• Trays

Process:

• Prior to children’s arrival, fill each of the squirt bottles with water and add a few drops of blue food coloring. The food coloring makes the water easier to see when it “rains.” 
• Place a sponge on top of the opening of the jar. 
• The children will squirt the water onto the sponge. NOTE: Instruct the children to aim toward the center of the sponge. Otherwise it will just end up making the edges soaked and it won’t go into the jar.
• The sponge will become full of water and start releasing water drops into the jar similar to rain.
• To reset the station, squeeze the excess water from the sponge into the jar and then pour the water from the jar into the squirt bottle.

Station 2: Water Cycle Bracelet/Necklace

Concept: 

The idea behind this session is to teach the sequence of the water cycle.

Supplies Needed:

• Pre-cut Cord or string
• Pony beads (light blue, green, dark blue, yellow, clear sparkle, and white)
• Cups

Process:

• The beads were put into each a cup based on color. When the children went to the station, they were to thread the beads onto the string based on their order in the water cycle. The following chart was provided as a guide to help them go through the cycle.

• Parent participation will be needed when it comes to tying off the bracelet or necklace and in making sure that the children don’t take more beads than they need. The number of beads are limited, so we don’t want a single child to overindulge and leave none for the other children.

Station 3: Cloud Dough

Concept: 

This station will give a sensory experience to the children. The cloud dough is similar to play dough and can be taken home by the child.

Supplies Needed:

• Flour
• Baby oil
• Cups (for mixing)
• Tubs (to contain mess)

Process:
Slowly add baby oil into your cup of flour and mix it together until it becomes the desired texture. An example tub of cloud dough is provided.

Ending Circle Time

• Station Discussion (what they learned/thought)
• Review Water Cycle
• Water Cycle in a Baggie

• Supplies: 
• plastic bags
• sharpies
• Instructions (provided in bag)

Actual Story Time – March 11, 2016

10 AM Session – Record of Events

For the 10 AM session, we had all of our participants show up for the session.

• Open Circle Time
• Greeting
• Read Water Can Be…
• Felt Board: Building the Water Cycle
• Some of the children had previously learned about the water cycle through their preschool or other sources so participation was plentiful. They struggled a bit with the bigger words, but that was to be expected due to their age. 
• Dismiss to Stations 
• Station 1: Make it Rain – Cloud Demonstration 
• In the 10 AM session, I did not put down trays underneath the jars because I thought that the water would pass through the sponges and into the jars without much mess. I had a bunch of paper towels, and I thought that would be all that was needed. I was horribly mistaken. Water went absolutely everywhere. I had instructed the children to aim for the center, but many of the children wanted the whole sponge to be covered with water which lead the water to leak out form the sides of the sponge and get all over the tables. I spent a good chunk of the station time cleaning up water and refilling squirt bottles rather than interacting with the children. Stacy ran upstairs and brought down trays, so by the end of the session the children were able to use the station with minimal clean up. 
• In addition to being messy, the demonstration received a lukewarm reception. None of the children wanted to stay very long at this station, so it made the other stations overcrowded. Some children wouldn’t even stay long enough for it to “rain.” It was a bit discouraging to see the children shut down my idea.
• Station 2: Water Cycle Bracelet/Necklace
• This was a very popular station. Everyone was very enthusiastic about making bracelets or necklaces. Unfortunately, many of the children disregarded the instructions to sequence the beads in order with the water cycle. 
• Station 3: Cloud Dough
• This was a very messy station. In hindsight, it would have been beneficial to provide hand wipes for after they completed the station. The table was a bit too high for the children to know what they were doing, so the tubs were taken to the ground which lead to a lot more flour and oil ending up on the carpet than desired. However, the kids had a fun time with mixing the dough together. 
• Ending Circle Time
• Station Discussion (what they learned/thought)
• As predicted, the bracelet/necklace was the biggest hit. Surprisingly, the children seemed to grasp the concept of the cloud retaining water through the “Make It Rain” station the best out of the stations. 
• Review Water Cycle
• This group was very good at retaining the information, and they were able to recite the water cycle back to me. I was quite impressed with how much they remembered. 
• Water Cycle in a Baggie
• I provided the instructions and spoke mainly to the parents in how to conduct the experiment. The children were eager to grab the bags, so I am hoping that they went home and completed it.
• Hand Stamps
• Dismissal

11 AM Session – Record of Events

Because the 11 AM session was just a repeat of the 10 AM session, I will only be recording what was different between the two sessions.

• Open Circle Time
• Greeting
• Read Water Can Be…
• Felt Board: Building the Water Cycle
• During this session, the kids were a lot more interested in participating. Almost every child jumped in with their input. Unfortunately, a lot of the input provided was off topic. It took a bit longer to get through the felt board activity than the 10 AM session.
• Dismiss to Stations 
• Station 1: Make it Rain – Cloud Demonstration 
• The 11 AM session adored the cloud demonstration. There were lines between each of the four jars and kids did not want to walk away. Parents literally had to drag their kids away for the Ending Circle Time. It was such a relief after the 10 AM’s lackluster response. 
•  Station 2: Water Cycle Bracelet/Necklace
• At this point, I was less concerned with the number of beads being used because it was our last session. This group was better about putting the beads in the correct session. I attribute that to the parents taking a bigger part in the station. A lot of the parents were walking their children through the water cycle while assembling the bracelet/necklace. If we were doing the activity as a group, this is how I would like to run it.
• Station 3: Cloud Dough
• Again, this was very messy. However, we had a bit more mess because the parents took it upon themselves to add more oil and flour to their child’s cup. This meant the ratios were off and cups overflowed more often. I had previously portioned out the flour and oil so it would mix well, but with the addition of more ingredients some of the dough didn’t turn out correctly. I think emphasizing this before we began would have worked better.
• Ending Circle Time
• Station Discussion (what they learned/thought)
• Like the opening circle time, we had a lot of participation. Unfortunately, a big chunk of it was off topic. I tried to keep them on topic, but they went a little haywire when I wasn’t asking specific questions. 
• Review Water Cycle
• The children seemed to remember a lot of what I had told them during the opening circle, so they were able to reiterate a lot of the cycle. 
• Water Cycle in a Baggie
• Hand Stamps
• Dismissal

Evaluation of STEAM Programming

Station Success: 6/10

I would say that the “Make it Rain” Cloud Demonstration and Water Cycle Bracelet/Necklace were fairly successful and the children took away some knowledge from the stations. However, the cloud dough was not as successful. I knew that it was a soft connection to the STEAM objectives, but I wanted to have a sensory activity that tied in to the story.

Retention of Information: 7/10

I feel like the children understood what I was saying because they were able to help me put together the water cycle during ending circle time. They were able to provide me the information that I was looking for with minimal help.

I do think that I lost points because my stations didn’t 100% mash up with my opening and ending circle times. I wish that I was able to get more repetition of the key concepts in during the stations.

Overall: 7/10

I think that the story time was predominately successful. The children and their parents had a pretty good time. I wish that I had been able to be provide more supervision over some of the stations to prevent messes and to make the activity go more smoothly. However, I think if I were to repeat the story time then I would be able to bump my score up.

Improvements

My biggest regret was the cloud dough. The children’s enjoyed it, but it was messier and less successful than I would have liked. If I were repeat this story time again, I would substitute another activity in place of the cloud dough.

For the Cloud Demonstration, I would take more time to prevent the water from getting out of control. Having trays to capture the water would be the first improvement, but I was able to do so by the second session. I would also make the sponges smaller so that they fit directly over the top of the jar without a lot of overhang. The excess sponge on the sides of the jar hurt the collection of water in the center and cause water to go down the outside of the jar rather than in the jar as rain. I think that if the sponge was fitted to the top of the jar then it would help prevent this.

For the Water Cycle Bracelet/Necklace, I would cut down the number of bead required and only hit the highlights (evaporation, precipitation, and condensation) because the water cycle bracelet steps went beyond what was discussed in the opening and ending circle times. Another alternative would be to make the water cycle felt board more closely coincide with the bracelet. Either way, the steps of one activity should have a counterpart in the other. That would cement the information better in the minds of the children.