Joint Polar Satellite System
From our global observations to your local weather forecast
Use your knowledge of Earth’s water cycle to follow the many different paths a drop of water can take around Earth.
* Full-color game board is 11" x 17". Alternative low-ink version available.
Below you'll find all the materials needed to play the JPSS Water Cycle game. If you're interested in downloading all the parts, please download the Full Activity Package!
Teacher/Parent Manual Game Rules Score Sheet Full-Color Board Game Printer-Friendly Board GamePowerPoint and Excel files can also be opened in Google Slides. Game host can share your screen and move players’ game pieces. You can even use an online random die roll like this one: https://www.piliapp.com/random/dice/
The gameplay instructions of the JPSS Water Cycle Game are as follows:
Score the most points in 10 turns by moving through Earth’s water cycle. Players gain points by landing on spaces representing Earth’s water cycle. Each space is marked with the number of points it is worth.
Players roll a 6-sided die to determine Player Order for each turn. The Player with the highest number chooses their starting position first and the Player with the lowest number chooses last. If more than 1 player roll the same number, each of those players roll again. The starting positions are the Clouds, Mountains, Glacier, Lake, River and Ocean (marked in rectangular spaces).
Players cannot choose the same starting position and don’t gather points when rolling for starting position.
Hint: Choose a starting position that puts you close to a space with a lot of points!
Players take turns rolling a 6-sided die based on player order.
Players can choose any path in order to win. However, players must follow the natural flow of Earth’s water cycle (follow the arrows). Example: If you are in the Ocean, you cannot travel upstream into a River.
Players must move the same amount of spaces as their dice roll and collect the number of points of the space they land on. Example: If your turn ends on Clouds, you collect 1 point for that turn.
The STORM ZONE consists of the Rain Cloud, Thunderstorm, Tropical Disturbance, Tropical Depression, Tropical Storm, and Hurricane spaces. Hint: Lower dice rolls in the STORM ZONE will get you more points! Careful: If you land on the Rain Cloud space, you must follow the rain path back to the Ocean and work your way back to the STORM ZONE.
Use the Score Sheet to keep track of your Score.