What is the Water Cycle?What is the

Water Cycle?

First, let’s talk

about matter.

Matter is everything around

you. Look around! What do

you see?

Matter can changechange, and that’s what makes it so neat. Scientists identify

matter by calling something a . . .

or

SolidsSolids are matter that has a shape of its own.

LiquidsLiquids are matter that does not have a shape of its own.

GasesGases are matter that always fill all the space

inside a container .

Turn to a partner and find an example of each form of

matter in your classroom or school.

To understand the Water Cycle, you

need to know what a cyclecycle is.

A cycle is a process that happens

continually in the same order. Think about a wheel

on a bicycle.

It goes round and

round.

Think about the cycle of seasons.

Spring always follows winter.

Summer always follows

spring.

Autumn always follows

summer.

Winter always follows

autumn.

The water cycle begins with evaporationevaporation. It is the process of changing from a liquid to a

gas .EvaporationEvaporation 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.

The next part of the water cycle is condensationcondensation. It is the

process in which a vapor or a gas changes to a liquid.

CondensationCondensation is when water vapor in the air gets cold and changes back into liquid, forming clouds. 

The next part of the water cycle is precipitationprecipitation. It is the process in which snow, sleet, rain, or hail falls to the Earth's surface.

PrecipitationPrecipitation occurs when there is so much water in the air it cannot hold onto it anymore. The clouds get heavy and water falls back to the earth in the form of rain, hail, sleet or snow.

The next part of the water cycle is accumulationaccumulation. It is when water from precipitation is stored in a river, lake, underground, or other place until it is evaporated and goes back into the

cycle. When water accumulatesaccumulates 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 all over again.

Here’s the Water Cycle!

accumulation

Fun Water Facts

• 75 % of the earth is covered with water.

• 97 % of earth’s water is in the oceans. Only 3 % of the earth’s water can be used as drinking water. 75 % of the world’s fresh water is frozen in the polar ice caps.

• Although a person can live without food for more than a month, a person can only live without water for approximately one week.

More Fun Water Facts

• The average person in the United States uses 80 to 100 gallons of water each day.

• Water boils at 212o Fahrenheit or 100o Celsius.

• Water freezes at 32o Fahrenheit or 0o Celsius.

• If everyone in the US used just one less gallon of water per shower every day, we could save some 85 billion gallons of water per year.

Now you are a Water Cycle

Expert!

Go forth and conserve!