In this module, learners are introduced to the REAL STEM online learning format and create their "adventurer name." The main content, a concise lesson about the water cycle, presents a broad view of the world of water that is explored more in-depth in the following modules. The first activity, Draw Like a Scientist, guides learners as they develop a scientific sketch in their field journals based on personal experiences, inferences, and direct observations of a nearby water source.
Earth’s major systems are the geosphere (solid and molten rock, soil, and sediments), the hydrosphere (water and ice), the atmosphere (air), and the biosphere (living things, including humans). These systems interact in multiple ways to affect Earth’s surface materials and processes. The ocean supports a variety of ecosystems and organisms, shapes landforms, and influences climate. Winds and clouds in the atmosphere interact with the landforms to determine patterns of weather.
Nearly all of Earth’s available water is in the ocean. Most fresh water is in glaciers or underground; only a tiny fraction is in streams, lakes, wetlands, and the atmosphere.
A system is a group of related parts that make up a whole and can carry out functions its individual parts cannot.
Make observations and/or measurements to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence for an explanation of a phenomenon or test a design solution.