how can I teach the differently-abled children about the water cycle?

Question

Differently abled children are basically the children who have learning problems and can be slow learners or learning disabled, at times, one can even call all the persons with handicaps as differently abled.

Answer 1

Try the web site (below) for some ideas. It's visually stimulating and asks great questions like "Do you know that the water you drink today was probably drunk by a dinosaur!" to get the interest going.

Good luck

Answer 2

It depends on the child's mental developmental level.

A child with a learning disability in reading, may still be able to understand the lessons given other children of the same age, if taught orally rather than by reading. A 10-year-old who has great difficulty reading, but whose IQ is average (85 or higher) should be taught about the water cycle at the same level as the other 4th/5th graders, but through discussion and pictures rather than having him/her read about it.

A child with mental retardation should be taught at his/her mental level. In other words, a 10-year-old whose mental age is 6 years old, should be given the same information and lessons one would give a 1st grader.

Depending on the child's level, you might want to use one of these sites:

http://www.geolor.com/geoteach/WaterCycle/Water_Cycle-Interactive_Lesson.htm

http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/lessons.cfm?BenchmarkID=11&DocID=8

http://www.northcanton.sparcc.org/~greentown/waterscience.htm

http://www.bridge-rayn.org/lessons.html#anchor85597

Answer 3

use physical experience and little simplified science experiments to show them water cycles....

allow them to play with water.... show them how steam is made...
let the steam condense and cool on a surface that does not conduct heat and then allow them to experience how the steam has moved from the container to the condensation surface by heating....

get them out into the playground with hoses, pipes, water troughs, and lots of water.... first hand experience works wonders..

take them for outings to the beeach, rivers, dams, creeks... if these are near by just do a walking excursion...

create all the lesson plans for a semester around water... include water in everything... read them age appropriate stories that feeature water... let them measure water for maths... learn new words that are water related...

basically immerse them in water.... well the concepts of water any way...

but yeah if you can include swimming as the sport for the term that would be good too.