Mississippi Science E.4.9A.1
The Standard
- E.4.9A
- Students will demonstrate an understanding of how the water cycle is propelled by the sun's energy.
Develop and use models to explain how the sun’s energy drives the water cycle. (e.g., evaporation, condensation, precipitation, transpiration, runoff, and groundwater).
2026 Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science · Earth’s Systems and Cycles
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students build or draw a water cycle model with labeled arrows. They show sunlight warming water for evaporation and helping plants release water vapor. They trace condensation, precipitation, runoff, and water underground.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student puts each process in a sensible place on the model, including water released by plants and water moving underground. They explain that sunlight supplies energy for evaporation, cooling forms cloud droplets, and gravity moves rain and runoff.
Common Misconceptions
- Some students think evaporated water disappears instead of becoming invisible vapor. Others think clouds are water vapor, rather than tiny droplets or ice crystals. They may leave plants and groundwater out or think the sun directly makes rain fall.
How to Assess It
- Draw a water cycle model with the sun, a cloud, a plant, a river, and soil. Label evaporation, condensation, precipitation, transpiration, runoff, and groundwater, then mark where sunlight adds energy.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Tape a sealed bag with a spoonful of water to a sunny window; mark the waterline and sketch any droplets that form.
Ask students to write where a puddle's water could go after a sunny day, including one route through a plant.
Give pairs six picture cards to match with water cycle labels, then have them draw two different routes water could take.
Compare photos of a schoolyard puddle before and after a sunny day; sketch evaporation, runoff, and water soaking into soil.
Keep exploring
Related Standards
- E.5.8B.3
Develop and use models to explain the factors (e.g., tilt, revolution, and angle of sunlight) that result in Earth's seasonal changes.
- E.4.9A
Students will demonstrate an understanding of how the water cycle is propelled by the sun's energy.
- E.4.9C.2
Develop and use models of natural processes to explain the effect of the movement of water on the ocean shore zone, including beaches, barrier islands, estuarie...
- E.7.9A.5
Analyze models to explain the cause and effect relationship between solar energy and convection and the resulting weather patterns and climate conditions.
Turn this exact standard into a lesson
Grade, subject, topic, and the complete standard are prefilled. Create one free, no account needed.
Also for this standard:Make a WorksheetMake a QuizMake a Sub Lesson