BYU-created water cycle resources adopted by USGS for nationwide use

The United States Geological Survey, the nation’s largest water, earth and biological science agency, has tapped resources created by BYU to help teach schoolchildren coast-to-coast (and beyond) about water science in modern times.

The new images, created by an interdisciplinary group of BYU scientists, educators and creatives, include a much-needed modernized version of the water cycle, named, fittingly, the Modern Water Cycle. The newly created model incorporates something almost always missing from the traditional water cycle taught in schools: the impact of humans.

“Humans are a part of this; humans impact it and humans are impacted by it,” said associate professor of teacher education Ryan Nixon, one of 11 BYU collaborators on the project. “It’s important for students to learn we’re part of this cycle and it’s not something that exists and operates in a far-off place.”

For decades, public school teachers have dutifully taught the traditional water cycle as a simple circular cycle of evaporation, condensation and precipitation. In recent years, educators have put additional emphasis on important areas, including the presence of groundwater collection and the act of transpiration. But until now, the human element has been missing.

Five years ago, research led by BYU professor Ben Abbott, a member of the water cycle team, discovered only 15% of water cycle diagrams from textbooks, scientific literature and online sources made any mention of human impact. That finding kicked off the interdisciplinary effort to produce updated water cycle resources designed specifically for teachers.

The new resources, published this month in The American Biology Teacher, include a water cycle vocabulary poster depicting the five common water terms with eye-catching illustrations; a visual series of images showing where water is located and how it moves through six landscapes; and the crown jewel: The Modern Water Cycle, a hydrologic cycle representing major water pools, natural water fluxes and elements directly impacted by humans.

All of the images were created by undergraduate BYU illustration majors with direct consultation by BYU science and education professors. During the process, BYU’s team connected with the USGS, who “immediately latched on to the collaboration,” according to BYU postdoctoral researcher and teacher Sophie Hill, who spearheaded the project. The USGS helped put some final polish on several of the resources before sharing the images with their national audience this past week.

“I had taught the water cycle in the classroom, but it wasn’t until this project that I realized I really was missing some major components,” said Hill, who is now back teaching eighth graders in Pocatello, Idaho. “We were teaching in a way that was so disconnected from our daily lives.”

Hill started using the new materials with students during this past school year and immediately saw the lights go on.

“They all caught on really quickly that humans are involved in this water process,” she said. “The students engaged in long conversations on the topic and almost universally realized that they needed to be part of this water story. It was very intuitive, and the kids quickly made sense of it; having them receive it so well was validating.”

The publication of the water cycle resources is just one project for this group of BYU researchers. Team member Josh LeMonte, a BYU geology professor, said the new GE course, GEOL 107 – Water Planet, resulted from the water cycle project as well. LeMonte, Hill and professor Greg Carling worked together to develop the course.

In addition to Nixon, Hill, Abbott, LeMonte and Carling, the following BYU professors and educators collaborated on the water cycle effort: Liz Bailey (Biology), Dan Ames (Engineering), Rick Gill (Biology), Bryan Hopkins (Plant & Wildlife Sciences), Keely Song Glenn (Dance) and Anna Neumiller. Cally Flox and Heather Francis from the BYU Arts Partnership also participated in the project.

To see the whole suite of water cycle resources and images created by the BYU team, visit https://watercycle.byu.edu/