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The Water Cycle. By Brittanie Payne 5 Blue. Introduction: What is the water cycle?.
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The Water Cycle By Brittanie Payne 5 Blue
Introduction: What is the water cycle? • The water cycle or hydrologic is a continuous cycle where water evaporates, travels into the air and becomes part of a cloud, falls down to earth as precipitation, and then evaporates again. This repeats again and again in a never-ending cycle. Water keeps moving and changing from a solid to a liquid to a gas, over and over again. Precipitation creates runoff that travels over the ground surface and helps to fill lakes and rivers. It also percolates or moves downward through openings in the soil to replenish aquifers under the ground. Some places receive more precipitation than others do. These areas are usually close to oceans or large bodies of water that allow more water to evaporate and form clouds. Other areas receive less precipitation. Often these areas are far from water or near mountains. As clouds move up and over mountains, the water vapor condenses to form precipitation and freezes. Snow falls on the peaks.
Stage 1:Evaporation • 1: The Sun's rays heat the water on the surface of the earth in rivers, oceans and lakes. • 2: Some particles of water change state, from a liquid to a gas, due to energy (or heat) from the sun. • 3: These particles, called water vapour, then rise into the air.
Stage 2: Condensation • 1: The Water vapour rises as it is warmer than the surrounding air. After evaporation, condensation occurs. Water vapour is light and rises up towards the sky. 2: Air becomes cooler at high altitudes. This cools the water vapour down which causes it to change state back to a liquid. • 3: The water particles begin to 'stick' to each other, forming clouds of droplets.
Stage 3: Precipitation • 1: When these clouds become full and heavy, portions fall to the ground in the form of water or snow. When snow passes through warmer air, it melts and becomes rain. • The droplets of water become larger and heavier as more droplets stick together. • As they become too heavy to be held in the air they fall to earth as rain. • If the air is very cold when these droplets fall to the earth, they change from a liquid to a solid state, called snow. Rain Snow
Stage 4: Collection • 1: After precipitation comes the stage of collection. The raindrops fall back into the lakes, rivers and oceans or are absorbed by the land. This process by which rainwater gathers on earth is called collection. 2: Water is again heated by the rays of the Sun, causing it to evaporate, condense and fall on earth. Hence the water cycle is a continuous process.
Did you know? • Did you know water is essential to our planet's life and without it nothing could survive. The globe is two-thirds covered by water, but 93% is ocean water, toxic to humans, plants and animals? • Did you know There is the same amount of water on earth now as there was when dinosaurs hung out at the local pond millions of years ago. The water keeps moving in a cycle; it evaporates from rivers, lakes, and oceans. The vapor from evaporation and condensation forms the clouds in the sky and then returns to earth as rain, snow, sleet, or hail?
Did you know about two-thirds of your body is made up of water? • Did you know The Earth's water supply is made up of: 97% oceans, 2% Icecaps/Glaciers, 1% Fresh Ground Water? • Did you know water is the only thing that can be a gas, liquid, and a solid?
Did you know in 20 minutes, one thunderstorm can send down over 125,000,000 gallons of water? • Did you know the best part about The Water Cycle is that you can start at any stage because it is always circling around?
Reference list • The water cycle- • www.kidzone.ws/WATER/ (Date: 20.7.08) • www.indiaparenting.com/kidcentric/learning/science/024.shtml (Date:20.7.08) • www.kedt.org/Ed/LessonPlanswithVideo/lpewatercycleexperiment.htm (Date: 20.7.08) Click here for a video of the water cycle.
