Case 01 · Water · Draft, not yet checked
Where does rain come from?
Print this Case File
Six A4 pages in black and white: one page for you, a cover to colour, then Inspire, Investigate (two pages), and Integrate and Impart. Choose the level by your child, not by age. Siblings can each have their own.
Explorer draws, circles, counts and says (often ages 4–7). Investigator predicts, tests, records and explains (often ages 7–11).
Finished the case?
The ayah: Surah Al-Mu'minoon 23:18
وَأَنزَلْنَا مِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ مَآءًۢ بِقَدَرٍۢ فَأَسْكَنَّٰهُ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ ۖ وَإِنَّا عَلَىٰ ذَهَابٍۭ بِهِۦ لَقَٰدِرُونَ
And We send down water from the sky according to (due) measure, and We cause it to soak in the soil; and We certainly are able to drain it off (with ease).
English: Abdullah Yusuf Ali
You will need
About 40 minutes · Things at home
- A clear zip bag and sticky tape
- Water (and a drop of food colouring, if you have it)
- Three cups or yoghurt pots
- Some soil, some sand and some small stones
- A small cup for pouring
The journey
- Inspire: Breathe slowly onto a cold spoon or a mirror.
- Investigate: A water cycle in a bag · Rain or a watering can? · Which ground drinks fastest?
- Integrate: which name of Allah does it remind you of, and a small plan for the week.
- Impart: Show your water bag to someone at home. Tell them where the drops came from.
For grown-ups: the science
The sun warms water so that it rises into the air as invisible vapour. Higher up the air is cooler, the vapour gathers into tiny droplets that make clouds, and the droplets fall as rain. On the ground, rain soaks in or runs off into drains, rivers and reservoirs. How fast it soaks in depends on the ground.
- • Water evaporates, condenses into clouds and falls back as rain: the water cycle. Source: USGS Water Science School, “The Water Cycle”.
- • Water soaks into sandy ground faster than into clay or packed soil. Source: Soil infiltration guides, e.g. USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. [still being checked]
- • Singapore collects rainwater in reservoirs and catchment areas, one of its Four National Taps. Source: PUB, Singapore's National Water Agency.