1. Water in Earth’s Processes Study Guide
Our test will be on ______________________.

2. “The Blue Planet”
70% of the Earth’s surface is covered in water.

3. Water is everywhere. So, why do I need to conserve it?!
Humans cannot use most of Earth’s water. In fact, we can only access and effectively use .1%!
Water is distributed across the planet in different ways.

4. 97% of the water on Earth is salt water.

5. The oceans’ salinity is too high for humans to consume.
The salt in the ocean and seas comes from weathering and erosion of rocks.
Sea water has a higher concentration of sodium chloride, NaCl (salt).
When fresh water pours into the ocean, the salinity (salt content) stays the same because water continually evaporates out of the ocean.

6. 3% of the water on Earth is fresh water.

7. Ice caps and glaciers make up 2%.
The greatest amount of
fresh water on Earth is
found in glaciers and polar
ice caps.

9. Groundwater makes up .9%.

10. Rivers, lakes, and swamps make up .1%.
Lake Superior Amazon River
Largest freshwater body on Earth Largest carrier of freshwater to the ocean

11. If new wells are created due to a population increase, the water table would drop.

12. Threats to Our Water Supply
1. Pollution – fertilizers, pesticides, sediments, trash, oil/gasoline, chemicals pollute groundwater
2. Drought – long periods of little or no rain can affect water supply and farming
3. Overuse- humans are consuming too much of freshwater supply

13. HUMANS ARE USING TOO MUCH WATER.
*The average person uses between 40 to 80 gallons of water per day.
*An average family of 4 uses between 160 to 320 gallons of water per day.

14. The Water Cycle
The water cycle is powered by heat from the Sun. It is the continuous movement of water from the ocean to the atmosphere to the land and back to the ocean.

15. Check out the difference between Earth and the sun!

16. Heat energy from the sun causes evaporation and transpiration.
Evaporation is when liquid water changes into water vapor and rises.

17. Evaporation See what water molecules are doing during evaporation.
See what water molecules are doing during evaporation.

18. Transpiration Transpiration is evaporation
of water through plant leaves.
If you were to hang a wet swimsuit
to dry, the heat of the sun, the speed
of the wind, and the amount of water
vapor in the air (humidity) would
affect the evaporation/dry time.

19. Air always contains some water vapor through evaporation
Air always contains some water vapor through evaporation. We become more aware of water vapor when air is humid.

20. Condensation
Condensation is when water vapor cools and changes into water droplets that cling to dust particles and form clouds in the atmosphere.

21. Condensation

22. Condensation
See what water molecules are doing during condensation.

23. Precipitation
Precipitation is rain, snow, sleet, or hail that falls from clouds onto the Earth’s land and oceans.

24. Types of Frozen Precipitation (determined by air temperature)
1. Snow- water vapor turns directly to a solid 2. Sleet- rain drops pass through a layer of freezing temperature near Earth’s surface 3. Hail- water droplets freeze around a small ice crystal

25. Snow Sleet Hail

26. Where does precipitation go?
Percolation is the downward movement of water through pores and other spaces in soil due to gravity.
Runoff is precipitation that flows over land into streams and rivers.
Accumulation is when water gathers in large quantities such as rivers, lakes, oceans, glaciers, ice caps, and aquifers (geological formation containing groundwater.)

28. Water Cycle Song