EVAPORATION, CONDENSATION, PRECIPITATION AND TRANSPIRATION The Water Cycle The Water Cycle EVAPORATION, CONDENSATION, PRECIPITATION AND TRANSPIRATION

A. The earth has a limited amount of water.  1.That water keeps going around and around in what we call the "Water Cycle.” 2.The water cycle is important because it gives us fresh water. B. This cycle is made up of a few main parts: 1. evaporation 2. condensation 3. precipitation 4. Transpiration 5. Runoff

B. Evaporation- Liquid to Gas 1. Evaporation is when the sun heats up water in rivers or lakes or the ocean and turns it into vapor or steam.  2. The water vapor or steam leaves the river, lake or ocean and goes into the air. 3. Water to Water Vapor

C. Condensation- Gas to Liquid 1. Water vapor in the air gets cold and changes back into liquid, forming clouds. This is called condensation. 2. Example: the droplets that form on the outside of a cold glass. 3. The Water vapor condensed into water droplets.

D. Precipitation 1. Precipitation occurs when so much water has condensed that the air cannot hold it anymore.  2. The clouds get heavy and water falls back to the earth in the form of rain, hail, sleet or snow.

E. Transpiration 1. Transpiration is the process by which plants lose water out of their leaves.  2. Transpiration gives evaporation a bit of a hand in getting the water vapor back up into the air.

F. Runoff 1. Runoff is the movement of landwater to the oceans, chiefly in the form of rivers, lakes, and streams. Runoff consists of precipitation that neither evaporates, transpires nor penetrates the surface to become groundwater. Even the smallest streams are connected to larger rivers that carry billions of gallons of water into oceans worldwide. Excess runoff can lead to flooding, which occurs when there is too much precipitation.

Main Parts A.Evaporation- Liquid to Gas Water changes to water vapor B. Condensation- Gas to Liquid Water vapor cools in the atmosphere and forms small droplets. C. Precipitation- Small droplets of water come together and form large droplets and fall to Earth D. Transpiration- the process by which plants lose water out of their leaves E. Runoff- the movement of land water to the oceans, chiefly in the form of rivers, lakes, and streams Animation: http://www.epa.gov/ogwdw/kids/flash/flash_watercycle.html

Interesting Facts   Water droplets  before they precipitate to earth combine with millions of other droplets until they become heavy enough to fall. The average speed of a raindrop is 14 miles an hour  and is only .04 to .24 inches in diameter. A raindrop must be at least .02 inches big otherwise it is considered drizzle. In illustrations raindrops usually are drawn tear shaped, but actually look more like the top of a hamburger bun.  According to the USGS, you may drink the same water as a dinosaur did 180 -245 million years ago. Frozen water is 9% lighter than water, which is why ice floats on water. Click below for more interesting facts about water. http://www.lenntech.com/water-trivia-facts.htm http://www.njawwa.org/kidsweb/waterfacts/waterfacts.htm