Have you ever thought about using CONNETIX to help teach topics from the water cycle, to the journey of a river or methods of water storage and transport?
This blog is going to do just that, explain ways in which CONNETIX can be applied to water themed topics in subjects like science and geography.
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The water cycle is a representation of how water, H2O is circulated through different levels of our ecosystem. The water cycle is defined as a natural process of continuous recycling of water in the atmosphere, back to the Earth through processes like evaporation, condensation and precipitation.
In the water cycle, water evaporates from the surface of the Earth, rises into the atmosphere, where it cools and condenses into rain or snow in clouds, and then falls to the ground as precipitation.
We have used the tiles to create the cycle as a 2D image which is often shown when learning about this topic.
Let’s explore the path that a river takes in its journey over Earth’s surface.
The source is where the river begins which is typically high up in mountains or hills. This may be a lake, a spring or even rainfall, either way the water trickles downwards forming a stream. These streams may join to create larger ones until forming a river. The river mouth is where it reaches its destination like the sea or a lake. At the junction of the river entering the sea or lake is known as a river mouth. Where the fresh water and seawater are flowing is called an estuary.
We made three versions for this project, a 2D side and front view, and a 3D front view. This was probably the trickiest challenge to get it to look like a river. We made the 2D one first and my eldest said he thought it would look better 3D, so we all helped to convert it to 3D. Additionally you could add more labels to this.
Rivers play an important role in human life. People may choose to live near rivers for the view of natural beauty and practical benefits. However, living near rivers can also lead to risk of flooding. A solution is building river defences and diverting river paths to help minimize these risks. Some coastal areas have decided to build houses on stilts, not to stop flooding but to allow the floodwaters to run under the house. The purpose is for the stilts to be high enough that water never reaches the home.
We made a single house, I would have liked to have made a village or different style houses but we need more blue tiles for this creation. Base plates would work well for this too.
A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams help to reduce floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human usage and industrial purposes. Controlling water flow can also be used to generate hydroelectricity.
We made a ball run dam to drop balls or rice down to represent water. The new rectangular shapes or a base plate might also work well as the slope for the dam. If you don’t have large right-angled triangles, it still works with isosceles triangles.
Canals are artificial waterways constructed mainly for transportation or irrigation purposes. Along canals there are locks which allow boats to travel up or down onto a new section of the waterway.
A lock is an elevator for boats. It lifts boats up or down to the next level on the canal. A lock is simply a chamber with gates at either end. By emptying or filling that chamber with water, the boat can move up or down.
The 5 layers of the ocean
We made a 2D and a 3D version of this adding plastic sea creatures to deepen understanding of the zones. You can also use images to match to the layers or draw on tiles with chalk pens.
Additional play ideas:
Water themed ideas are great all year round! Which is your favourite project? Remember to tag @connetix_tiles in your water themed creations inspired by this blog post.
We hope you have enjoyed our water themed play using CONNETIX. If you like our ideas, please check our Instagram page out @mylittlebrightsparks. We would love to hear your thoughts and see your creations too.
A qualified Science Teacher and mum of 3, Sarah brings her educational knowledge and love of all things STEM to her articles, reviews and play ideas that she shares through her Instagram account.
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