The Water Cycle By: Carol Harlow Anderson

Water Look at this glass of water carefully Can you guess how old this water is?

This water could have fallen from the snow and rain from a few days ago. BUT, the water itself has been around since the beginning of the earth.

When fish first crawled out of the ocean, this glass of water was part of that ocean. When dinosaurs drank from ponds and rivers, this glass of water was part of those ponds and rivers. When kings, princesses, knights and squires drank from the well, this glass of water was part of those wells.

The earth has a limited amount of water. The water keeps going around and around. This is what we call the Water Cycle.

These are the four stages of the water cycle Evaporation, Condensation Precipitation, & Collection

Evaporation The sun heats up ocean, lake, or river water and turns it into steam (vapor). This vapor leaves the ocean, lake, or river and goes into the air.

Do plants sweat? Sort of. People sweat (lose water) and plants transpire. Transpiration is the process where plants lose water to the air from their leaves. Transpiration gives evaporation help in getting water vapor into the air.

Condensation Water vapor cools in the air. It changes into clouds. You can do this at home: – Pour cold water in a glass on a hot day. – Notice the water on the outside of the glass. – This is water from the air! Vapor from the warm air turned into liquid when it touched the cold glass.

Precipitation When so much water condenses in the air that it cannot be held anymore, it falls as precipitation. Clouds form and water falls back to earth as either rain, hail, sleet, or snow.

Collection When water falls back to earth as precipitation, it ends up in oceans, lakes, rivers or on land. When water ends up on land, it is either soaked up into the soil and becomes “ground water” that is used by plants and animals OR it runs off into lakes, rivers, or oceans.

The Water Cycle EvaporationCondensationPrecipitationCollection

Water Cycle Review

Question 1 After snow falls the next morning you notice “smoke” rising from the snow. This is called… A. A. Collection B.B. Evaporation C.C. Condensation D.D. Precipitation

Question 2 There is a thunderstorm. You see rain and hail. What do you call this? A.A. A bad storm B.B. Condensation C.C. Evaporation D.D. Precipitation

Question 3 Plants get their water from the ground. What part of the water cycle is “ground water” found? A.A. Precipitation B.B. Condensation C.C. Collection D.D. Evaporation

Question 4 You have to constantly refill your birdbath in the garden all summer. What part of the water cycle is this called? A.A. Transpiration B.B. Collection C.C. Precipitation D.D. Evaporation

Question 5 When a plant loses water to the warm air outside, we call this A.A. Transpiration B.B. Sweating C.C. Precipitation D.D. Condensation

Congratulations! You now know a lot about the water cycle.

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