This article presents results from a study of 36 pupils (8-10 years of age) in face-to-face conversations with their teachers about water as an environmental phenomenon based on a photograph of a rainforest. The teachers' rather vague goal was to have the pupils talk about the water cycle. The sessions were audio-recorded and analyzed with respect to: (1) scaffolding strategies used by the teachers, (2) possible implications of these strategies on the pupils' sense-making, and (3) what accounts of the water cycle as a school-science learning-content were made. Three different patterns of scaffolding strategies were found. Some pupils did not even come close to talking about the water cycle, whereas others arrived at a rather fragmented picture. (Contains 2 figures and 1 table.)