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GLE 0407.8.1 Recognize the major components of the water cycle.

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Follow all the links! Watch the video and read the websites to find the answers to the questions. Write your answers on the  worksheet.
Once you are done we will check your answers.

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The water cycle is the continuous process by which water is circulated throughout the earth and the atmosphere through evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and the transpiration of plants and animals

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1. What is fallen precipitation called?
2.When water evaporated into the air, it turns into a gas called?

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Pour yourself a glass of water and take a sip. Did you know that the water you've just swallowed is the same water that wooly mammoths, King Tutankhamun and the first humans drank? That's because Earth has been recycling water for over 4 billion years!

The world's water moves between lakes, rivers, oceans, the atmosphere and the land in an ongoing cycle called - you guessed it! - the water cycle. As it goes through this continuous system, it can be a liquid (water), a gas (vapour) or a solid (ice).

So, are all you budding young geographers ready to learn some splashing new facts? Then join NG KiDS as we take a look at the different stages of the wonderful water cycle...

Energy from the sun heats up the surface of the Earth, causing the temperature of the water in our rivers, lakes and oceans to rise. When this happens, some of the water "evaporates" into the air, turning into a gas called " vapour". Plants and trees also lose water to the atmosphere through their leaves. This process is known as " transpiration ".

As water vapour rises up high into the sky, it cools and turns back into a liquid, forming clouds. This process is called " condensation ". Currents high up in the air move these clouds around the globe.

The water cycle is also known as the "hydrologic cycle".

Precipitation

When too much water has condensed, the water droplets in the clouds become too big and heavy for the air to hold them. And so they fall back down to Earth as rain, snow, hail or sleet, a process known as " precipitation ".

Collection

The fallen precipitation is then "collected" in bodies of water - such as rivers, lakes and oceans - from where it will eventually evaporate back into the air, beginning the cycle all over again. How it is collected, depends on where it lands...

Some will fall directly into lakes, rivers or the sea, from where it will evaporate and begin the cycle all over again.

If the water falls on vegetation, it may evaporate from leaves back into the air, or trickle down to the ground. Some of this water may then be taken up by the plant roots in the earth.

In cold climates, the precipitation may build up on land as snow, ice or glaciers. If temperatures rise, the ice will melt to liquid water and then soak into the ground, or flow into rivers or the ocean.

Water that reaches land directly may flow across the ground and collect in the oceans, rivers or lakes. This water is called " surface run-off ". Some of the precipitation will instead soak (or "infiltrate") into the soil, from where it will slowly move through the ground until eventually reaching a river or the ocean.

And there you have it, gang - the ongoing water cycle!

Water can change from a solid to a gas, without becoming a liquid first. Through this process of "sublimation" our planet"s ice can evaporate directly into the air without melting!

Be sure to check out our water conservation primary resource. Great for teachers, homeschoolers and parents alike, show children 25 ways to help keep our oceans, rivers and streams clean...

Illustration: Getty Images UK

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The Water Cycle! - National Geographic Kids

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Earth has been recycling water for 4 billion years! Learn about the water cycle right here at NG Kids with clear diagrams and pictures.

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5. In what cycle are clouds formed

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© Contributed by Leanne Guenther
Run and get a glass of water and put it on the table next to you. Take a good long look at the water. Now -- can you guess how old it is?

The water in your glass may have fallen from the sky as rain just last week, but the water itself has been around pretty much as long as the earth has!

When the first fish crawled out of the ocean onto the land, your glass of water was part of that ocean. When the Brontosaurus walked through lakes feeding on plants, your glass of water was part of those lakes. When kings and princesses, knights and squires took a drink from their wells, your glass of water was part of those wells.
And you thought your parents were OLD
The earth has a limited amount of water. That water keeps going around and around and around and around and (well, you get the idea) in what we call the "Water Cycle".

This cycle is made up of a few main parts:

evaporation (and transpiration)

condensation

precipitation

collection

Evaporation:

Evaporation is when the sun heats up water in rivers or lakes or the ocean and turns it into vapor or steam. The water vapor or steam leaves the river, lake or ocean and goes into the air.

Do plants sweat?

Well, sort of.... People perspire (sweat) and plants transpire. Transpiration is the process by which plants lose water out of their leaves. Transpiration gives evaporation a bit of a hand in getting the water vapor back up into the air.

Condensation:

Water vapor in the air gets cold and changes back into liquid, forming clouds. This is called condensation.

You can see the same sort of thing at home... Pour a glass of cold water on a hot day and watch what happens. Water forms on the outside of the glass. That water didn't somehow leak through the glass! It actually came from the air. Water vapor in the warm air, turns back into liquid when it touches the cold glass.

Precipitation:

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

Collection:

When water falls back to earth as precipitation, it may fall back in the oceans, lakes or rivers or it may 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 collect in the oceans, lakes or rivers where the cycle starts

Water Cycle Activity Pages.

Print these out and use them as posters or coloring pages. Sheets 2 thru 4 have some suggested activities you can do at home to demonstrate the Water Cycle.

Sheet 1 - ( color) or ( B&W)

Sheet 2 - ( color) or ( B&W)

Sheet 3 - ( color) or ( B&W)

Sheet 4 - ( color) or ( B&W)

Sheet 5 - ( color) or ( B&W)
Check out the Spanish version of the Water Cycle >

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© Contributed by Leanne Guenther Run and get a glass of water and put it on the table next to you. Take a good long look at the water. Now -- can you guess how old it is?

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1.What are the four main parts of the water cycle?
2. Rain, snow, hail, and sleet are examples of what part of water cycle?

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The Water Cycle: Collection, Condensation, Precipitation, Evaporation, Learning Videos For Children