# Week 2 integrated guide — Water paths in a model

**Version:** v0.1, 29 September 2026. **Five 35-minute sessions.** Educator, science, accessibility and local-syllabus review pending. Children use an **original schematic model** to explain selected water-cycle processes and critique its limits. This guide describes general physical processes; it does **not** claim the class observed a full water cycle, local rainfall, cloud formation or water quality. It supplements [English](../english/term-1/weeks-01-02/lessons.md) and [maths](../mathematics/term-1/weeks-01-02/lessons.md) without replacing their daily blocks.

**National links:** AC9S4U02 (water sources and movement through sky, landscape and ocean; precipitation, evaporation, condensation), AC9S4I01 (questions/predictions), AC9S4I04 (models/representations), AC9S4I05 (limitations and questions), AC9S4I06 (communicate scientific explanation). Exact Year 4 codes checked against the [ACARA v9 download](https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/downloads), retrieved 29 September 2026, pinned workbook SHA-256 `db446882d2c00cf7c085a03e250e2442fda6c44011fc114680c46c1dc7a822c3`. This is partial practice, not a full science attainment judgment.

**Scientific source check:** The [Bureau of Meteorology evaporation definition](https://www.bom.gov.au/water/awid/id-871.shtml) describes liquid water changing to vapour at a surface. [Water Corporation's water-word definitions](https://www.watercorporation.com.au/waterwise-school-education/a-z-of-waterwords) distinguish condensation and precipitation. The [Bureau's cloud explanation](https://media.bom.gov.au/social/blog/1845/curious-kids-where-do-clouds-come-from-and-why-do-they-have-different-shapes/) describes water vapour condensing into tiny liquid droplets. The diagram and lesson examples here are original simplifications, not reproduced source graphics. Real water can take varied paths; the arrows illustrate **one possible route**, not a fixed sequence for every molecule.

**Prepare/access/safety:** Print [original diagram](water-cycle-model.svg) or use its [PNG preview](water-cycle-model.png) or the plain-text model below. Supply moveable labels/arrows, large text, tactile arrows or digital alt text. No hot water, boiling, aerosols, closed-bag heating or field trip is required. A teacher may optionally show a school-approved live observation of a safe puddle/cold surface, but must label precisely what was observed and never use a transient demonstration as proof of the whole cycle. Use local protocols before discussing culturally significant waterways; do not invent First Nations knowledge or names. A learner can explain using speech, sign, AAC, path tracing, captions or adult-scribed words.

## Day 1 — Where can water be in this model?

**Question:** Which parts show water in ocean, land and sky? **35 = 5 launch + 7 model + 12 label + 8 compare + 3 check.**

1. **Launch 5:** Show the schematic unlabelled or covered. Ask for possible water sources and locations, recording ideas as questions rather than local facts.
2. **Model 7:** Reveal model labels ocean, river/land and cloud/sky. “A drawn ocean is a **model** of a water source, not a measurement of our nearest ocean.” Identify liquid water in ocean/river and tiny droplets in a cloud.
3. **Label 12:** Learners place ocean, river, cloud, sky and land labels on the printed/tactile model. A child can direct an adult.
4. **Compare 8:** Ask what the diagram includes and omits (groundwater, plants, ice, people, water management). It is acceptable if learners name an omitted path; no claim that all water follows one loop.
5. **Check 3:** “Name two model locations for water and one limit.” **Key:** e.g. ocean and river; diagram omits groundwater. **Next:** if cloud is called invisible vapour, revisit Day 3 distinction.

## Day 2 — Evaporation: liquid to invisible vapour

**Question:** How can water leave a liquid surface? **35 = 5 retrieve + 7 explain + 12 trace + 8 critique + 3 check.**

1. **Retrieve 5:** Point to ocean/river surface. Ask whether all water must evaporate today. **Key:** no; rate depends on conditions.
2. **Explain 7:** Use BOM definition in own words: liquid water at a surface can change into **invisible water vapour** in air. On the diagram move an arrow from surface toward air; do not draw a visible droplet rising as if evaporation itself is visible.
3. **Trace 12:** Children place evaporation arrow from ocean **or** land water toward air. Explain one source and direction. For access, use raised arrow and text “liquid surface → water vapour in air.”
4. **Critique 8:** Teacher shows a faulty statement “Clouds are made only of invisible vapour.” Children explain why cloud droplets are visible liquid/ice particles while vapour itself is invisible; model does not show every microscopic process.
5. **Check 3:** “What changes during evaporation?” **Key:** surface liquid water becomes water vapour in air. **Next:** if learner says droplets directly become rain, separate evaporation and precipitation labels.

## Day 3 — Condensation: vapour to droplets

**Question:** How can water vapour contribute to clouds? **35 = 5 revisit + 7 explain + 12 model + 8 discuss + 3 check.**

1. **Revisit 5:** Retrieve Day 2 arrow and its label. Ask whether vapour itself is a visible cloud. **Key:** no.
2. **Explain 7:** “When water vapour in air cools enough, it can change to tiny liquid droplets: condensation. Clouds contain tiny droplets and sometimes ice particles.” Point to sky/cloud region; do not claim every cold object directly makes a cloud.
3. **Model 12:** Learners move a `vapour in air` card to `tiny droplets in cloud` through a condensation arrow. They may draw or dictate a process sentence. Use only safe paper model, no heated jar.
4. **Discuss 8:** Compare water as liquid at a surface, invisible vapour in air and tiny cloud droplets. Ask what this diagram **does not** tell (exact temperature, height, time, amount).
5. **Check 3:** “What is condensation in this model?” **Key:** vapour changing to tiny liquid droplets when conditions allow. **Next:** if reversed, pair state labels and trace arrows again.

## Day 4 — Precipitation and possible return paths

**Question:** How might water move from sky to land/ocean and onward? **35 = 5 predict + 7 explain + 12 trace + 8 compare + 3 check.**

1. **Predict 5:** Child chooses one possible place precipitation could fall: ocean, land or both. **Key:** both are possible; don't treat choice as local forecast.
2. **Explain 7:** “Precipitation is water that falls from clouds, such as rain or snow when conditions produce it.” Model arrow down to ocean and down to land. Water on land may move across surface, enter ground, be used by living things or evaporate; the drawn river-to-ocean arrow is **one** path.
3. **Trace 12:** Learners choose one possible path through evaporation → condensation → precipitation, plus a land or ocean return arrow. They label arrow process/state, not a fixed itinerary for all water.
4. **Compare 8:** Two children show different valid paths; discuss what both diagrams explain and omit. If one points rain directly from invisible vapour, ask for condensation/cloud step in this simplified model.
5. **Check 3:** “Can rain fall into the ocean? Can every land drop be assumed to reach a river?” **Key:** yes to first; no to second. **Next:** add alternative ground/plant/evaporation cards.

## Day 5 — Explain and challenge a model

**Question:** What does our model explain, and what remains uncertain? **35 = 5 review + 7 teacher model + 12 create + 8 share + 3 check.**

1. **Review 5:** Retrieve terms evaporation, condensation, precipitation and source/state labels. Use word/gesture/AAC choice without speed scoring.
2. **Teacher model 7:** Explain one possible route in 3 sentences, pointing to every arrow. Then state a limit: “This drawing does not tell how long any step takes or where water at our school came from.”
3. **Create 12:** Learner makes an original annotated route on the blank diagram or in text/tactile symbols. Include three processes, at least two water locations and one limit. Adult may write exact child wording.
4. **Share 8:** Partner checks direction, state changes and limit. Use the English lesson's source-based language only if it serves clarity; no duplicate paragraph assessment. No unconsented local waterway stories or photos.
5. **Check 3:** Ask “What part of your picture is a process and what is a place? What does it not prove?” **Key:** e.g. evaporation is process, ocean is place; model doesn't prove local rainfall. **Next:** if labels blur, sort process/place cards and revise.

## Original text alternative and record card

```text
ONE POSSIBLE MODEL PATH (not a measured local event):
OCEAN / LAND LIQUID WATER
    -- evaporation --> INVISIBLE VAPOUR IN AIR
    -- condensation --> TINY DROPLETS IN CLOUD
    -- precipitation --> OCEAN OR LAND WATER
    -- one optional path --> RIVER TOWARD OCEAN
Other valid paths may include water entering ground, plants or the air again.

MY MODEL SOURCE: original class schematic / teacher-selected source ______
PROCESS 1: __________  STATE BEFORE/AFTER: ______________________
PROCESS 2: __________  STATE BEFORE/AFTER: ______________________
PROCESS 3: __________  WHERE WATER MAY GO: _______________________
ONE THING THE MODEL LEAVES OUT: _________________________________
RESPONSE MODE / SUPPORT: ________________________________________
```

**Evidence boundary:** Assessment checks correct relationships and honest model limitations. It does not score artistic polish, English pronunciation, local rainfall predictions or invented observations. Teacher validates any supplementary actual observation and records it separately.

**Rights:** Original guide, text model and diagram © NeuroForgeIO Pty Ltd 2026, [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Attribute *SubjectNest Year 4 Australian-first starter*, v0.1, [source](https://github.com/neuroforge-io/neuroforge_business/tree/main/products/curriculum-studio/content/year-4/term-1), licence and changes. ACARA and linked third-party sources retain separate rights; no external graphic is reproduced and no endorsement implied. [Integrated-file hashes](manifest.sha256). Educator/science/access review pending.