1. Water Cycle Vocabulary
9/29/2015

2. Match up the definitions with the correct vocabulary words
Take 3-5 minutes to try and postulate the correct pairing of words and definitions.
When you are done, check with your neighbor to see what they got for their pairings!

3. Water Cycle
The continuous process by which water moves from Earth’s surface to the atmosphere and back
Water passes through the living and nonliving parts of the environment.

4. Water Cycle

5. Water Vapor (Water Vapor)
Water Vapor is the invisible, gaseous form of water.

6. Water Vapor (Water Vapor)
Make sure you understand that fog and clouds are NOT water vapor, they are made of tiny droplets of condensed water. WATER VAPOR IS INVISIBLE
Photos by Rusty Sturken

7. Evaporation
The process by which molecules at the surface of a liquid absorb enough energy to change to a gaseous state.
Liquid Water Water Vapor

8. Evaporation

9. Transpiration
The process by which plants release water vapor through their leaves

10. Transpiration

11. Condensation The process by which a gas changes to a liquid.
Water Vapor Liquid Water

12. Condensation

13. Precipitation
Forms of water (rain, snow, sleet or hail) that fall from clouds and reach Earth’s surface

14. Precipitation

15. Groundwater
Water that fills the cracks and pores in underground soil and rock layers.

16. When rain falls on the land, some of the water is absorbed into the ground forming pockets of water called groundwater. Most groundwater eventually returns to the ocean. Other precipitation runs directly into streams or rivers. Water that collects in rivers, streams, and oceans is called runoff. Water that is flowing over the surface of the Earth.

17. Watershed
The land area that supplies water to a river system.

18. Home Sweet Home

22. Irrigation

23. Irrigation
The process of supplying water to areas of land to make them suitable for growing crops

24. Photosynthesis
The process by which plants use water, plus carbon dioxide and energy from the sun, to make food

25. Photosynthesis

26. Watershed

27. Levee
A long ridge formed by deposits of sediments alongside a river channel

28. Levee

29. Reservoir
A natural or artificial lake that stores water for human use.

30. Reservoir

31. Eutrophication
The process by which nutrients in a lake build up over time, causing an increase in the growth of algae

32. Eutrophication

33. Pores
Tiny openings in and between particles of rock and soil that may contain air or water

34. Pores

35. Permeable
Characteristic of materials such as sand and gravel that allow water to pass easily through them

36. Permeable

37. Water Table
The top of the saturated zone, or depth to the groundwater in an aquifer

38. Water Table

39. Saturated Zone

40. Saturated Zone
A layer of permeable rock or soil in which the cracks and pores are completely filled with water

41. Aquifer
An underground layer of rock or soil that holds water

42. Aquifer

43. Spring
A place where groundwater bubbles or flows out of cracks in the ground

44. Spring

45. Recharge
New water that enters an aquifer from the surface

46. Recharge

47. Artesian Well
A well in which water rises because of pressure within the aquifer

48. Artesian Well