EARTH SCIENCE · INTERACTIVE LESSON 01
One drop. Many journeys.
Explore the water cycle in 3D. Change the landscape, follow the water, and build an explanation.
Colored dots track water; vapor itself is invisible. Routes and speeds are illustrative, not measured flows. Groundwater is shown between rock grains, not in a hollow lake.
Think about it Where could a raindrop go next?
YOUR CLASSROOM HANDOUT
Turn an observation into an explanation.
Write your prediction first. Compare both surfaces with the same rain, then describe what changed and why.
Notes stay in this tab. Download before reloading or leaving. Exports are finished worksheets, not editable project files.
TEACHER NOTES
A model to reason with.
Pause the motion for discussion, turn labels off for recall, or use the ground view to discuss stores beneath the surface.
What does this model simplify?
It shows selected paths, not every path or the full water budget. The sun changes the evaporation illustration; rain is controlled separately. Soil and pavement are comparison presets, not calibrated surfaces. Wind, humidity, saturation, snow, ice, storage time and differences between soils are not simulated. Groundwater movement is greatly sped up.
What should students notice?
Water can take different routes. Clouds contain droplets or ice, not just invisible vapor. Water in soil may stay near roots or move deeper; it does not all return immediately to the sea. The blue ground layer highlights water between grains of material.
Sources & original work
Concepts checked against NOAA’s water-cycle overview, USGS on infiltration, and USGS on runoff. Scene geometry, lesson wording and interaction code are original to LessonViz. Rendering uses Three.js (MIT). No third-party course files or cover art are included.