2. * Evaporation is when the sun heats the water in rivers, lakes, or oceans and turns it into vapor or steam. The water vapor or steam leaves the rest of the water and goes into the air.

3. * The water vapor cools off and turns back into liquid, which causes the formation of clouds.

4. * Precipitation happens when the water has condensed so much that the air cannot hold it any longer. The clouds get heavy and the precipitation falls back to earth in the form of rain, snow, sleet, or hail.

5. * When the precipitation falls back to the earth, it may fall back into the oceans, lakes, rivers, or it might end up on land. When it ends up on land it will either soak into the earth and become part of the “ground water” that plants and animals use to drink or it may run over the soil and back into bodies of water where the cycle will start all over again.