Lesson plan Kindergarten Science

Two Rain Catchers at Pebblewick Kindergarten: A Water Saving Lesson

A 40-minute kindergarten lesson at a fictional school where students set out two rain catchers overnight, compare what each caught, and water the class plants with it.

Grade: Kindergarten
Subject: Science
Material: Lesson plan
Time: 40 min
Prep: Low prep
Materials: A wide baking pan, A tall narrow jar (plastic, or glass handled only by an adult), Two identical clear plastic cups, Masking tape and a marker, A small watering can, Two or three classroom plants, Chart paper

Standards

K-2-ETS1-3 NGSS

Analyze data from tests of two objects designed to solve the same problem to compare the strengths and weaknesses of how each performs.

How this material aligns: Students compare the water collected by two rain catchers built for the same job and say which shape performed better and why, the two-design test comparison this standard describes.

All materials for K-2-ETS1-3 →

K.MD.A.2 Common Core Math

Directly compare two objects with a measurable attribute in common, to see which object has 'more of'/'less of' the attribute, and describe the difference. For example, directly compare the heights of two children and describe one child as taller/shorter.

How this material aligns: Students pour each catch into identical clear cups and directly compare the two water lines to decide which holds more, the direct-comparison task this standard names.

All materials for K.MD.A.2 →

K-ESS3-3 NGSS

Communicate solutions that will reduce the impact of humans on the land, water, air, and/or other living things in the local environment.

How this material aligns: Students state and draw the solution of watering the classroom plants with caught rain instead of tap water, communicating one local way to use less drinking water.

All materials for K-ESS3-3 →

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This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely, without attribution. Updated 2026-09-03.

Objectives

Students will compare two rain catchers and tell which one collected more water.
Students will explain that the wider opening caught more rain even when the two water lines looked about the same height.
Students will name catching rain for the classroom plants as one way to use less tap water.

Vocabulary

Key words: rain catcher, wide, narrow, compare, more, less

Teacher overview

Pebblewick Kindergarten is a fictional school used to frame this lesson. On an afternoon when rain is in the forecast, the class carries two containers outside and sets them side by side on the same flat spot: a wide baking pan and a tall narrow jar. The next morning students look at both, decide which one caught more rain, and pour the collected water into the classroom watering can instead of filling it at the tap. Many children at this age judge amount by height alone, so they expect the container with the higher water line to have caught more. Both containers usually end up with water about the same depth, so students may decide they caught the same amount, while the wide pan actually holds far more, and the same-cup pour in the fourth step is what makes that difference visible.

Run this lesson on a morning after measurable rain. If the forecast does not cooperate, a watering can held above both containers for the same slow count of ten produces the same comparison indoors.

Procedure

Set-up the afternoon before (5 min): Walk the class outside to a flat, open spot away from the roof edge. Place the wide baking pan and the tall narrow jar next to each other and say that both have the same job, which is to catch rain for the classroom plants. Ask each student to point to the container they think will catch more rain, and tally the two groups of pointing hands on chart paper where everyone can see it.

Hook the next morning (5 min): Read the tally back to the class before going outside. Ask two or three students to say why they pointed the way they did, and write their reasons on the chart in their own words, such as "the jar is taller" or "the pan is fat."

Observe and describe (8 min): Carry both containers inside on a tray, holding them level. Set them on a table at student eye height and give every student a turn to look without touching. Ask what they notice about the water in each one. Expect several students to say the two caught the same amount because the water looks about as deep in each, or that the taller jar caught more, and write that claim on the chart without correcting it yet.

Same-cup pour (10 min): Hold up the two identical clear cups so the class agrees they are the same size and shape. Pour the jar's water into the first cup and mark the water line with a strip of masking tape. Pour the pan's water into the second cup and mark that line as well. Stand the cups side by side and ask which line is higher. Give the class the sentence frame "The pan caught more because its top is wider," and have students say it together while tracing the wide opening with a finger.

Use the water (7 min): Pour both catches into the watering can and let students take turns watering the classroom plants. As they pour, ask where this water came from and where it did not come from. Say plainly that the class did not turn on the tap this morning because the rain did the filling.

Debrief and formative check (5 min): Ask every student to hold up a wide flat hand for the pan or a tall pinched hand for the jar in answer to one question: "Which shape should we use next time we want to catch rain?" If fewer than half the class shows the wide flat hand, hold a watering can above the pan and a narrow drinking glass for the same slow count of ten, then repeat the same-cup pour, so the class sees a second wide-versus-narrow comparison before the lesson ends.

From Water for Schools (waterforschools.org). This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely.

Differentiation

Support

Pair students who struggled with the same-cup pour and give them the two marked cups to hold, one in each hand, so they feel the weight difference as well as seeing the water lines. Restate the comparison with one attribute at a time, first the opening ("this top is wide, this top is narrow") and then the result ("the wide one caught more"), rather than both at once.

Extension

Set out a third container with an opening somewhere between the pan and the jar before the next rain, and ask students to predict where its catch will fall when all three are poured into matching cups. Have these students order the three marked cups from least to most and describe the order out loud.

ELL supports

Pre-teach wide, narrow, more, and less by having students make the shapes with their arms and hands before going outside. Accept pointing at the pan or the jar as a full answer throughout the lesson, and provide the sentence frame "The ___ caught more water" with the two container words written beside small drawings of each one.

Extensions

Keep the wide pan outside on a bench for a week and let the class water the plants from it each morning, marking a tape line on the pan after every rain so students can see the catch build up over several storms. Invite the school custodian or a parent who gardens to show the class a rain barrel and explain what they use the water for at home, which gives students a second, larger example of the same solution they practiced.