The water cycle is the process of water moving between land and air. It is never ending. That means there is no beginning or end.
To better understand how this process works, click on the next slide...
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Step #1:
Water evaporates from the Earth's surface.
Did you ever wonder why puddles disappear?
That is because water slowly turns into a gas called water vapor. The process of water turning from a liquid into a gas is called evaporation. Transpiration is the process of water vapor being released from plants and soil.
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Step #2: Water condenses to form clouds.
Water vapor rises up in the sky due to the sun's heat.
Once the water vapor rises high enough, it condenses into water droplets.
Condensation is the process of water turning from a gas into a liquid.
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Step #3: Water falls back to the Earth as precipitation.
When water droplets get heavy enough, they fall back to Earth as rain. This is call precipitation because this can happen in a few ways: rain (liquid water), snow (frozen water), sleet (small pieces of frozen water), and hail (big pieces of frozen water).
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You may be asking...
"What happens after that?"
Well... when precipitation brings the water back down to Earth, the cycle repeats again. The sun shines on the water and it's starts evaporating again. This is why we call it the water cycle.
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Vocabulary:
water vapor- water in the form of gas.
evaporation- to turn from a liquid into a gas.
transpiration- water being released from the plants and soil.
condensation- to turn from a gas into a liquid.
precipitation- the act of water falling in the form of rain, snow, sleet, or hail.
Lesson duration is: 60 min
