1. The Water Cycle

2. The Water Cycle
The earth has a limited amount of water.  That water keeps going around and around and around and around and (well, you get the idea) in what we call the "Water Cycle".

3. The Water Cycle
The water cycle is the change of water from one state to another as it moves from Earth’s surface and the atmosphere.

4. The Water Cycle

5. The Sun’s Energy
Energy from the sun is what powers the water cycle. Without the sun, the water cycle would not work.

6. Parts of the Water Cycle
Evaporation
Transpiration
Condensation
Precipitation
Collection
Runoff

7. Evaporation Evaporation is caused by the sun’s heat.
Evaporation is when liquid water changes to a gas called water vapor. 
The water vapor leaves the river, stream, lake or ocean and goes into the air.

8. Evaporation

9. Transpiration Do Plants sweat?
Well, sort of.... people perspire (sweat) and plants transpire. 
Transpiration is the process by which plants lose water out of their leaves. 
Transpiration gives evaporation a bit of a hand in getting the water vapor back up into the air.

10. Transpiration

11. Condensation
Condensation is the change from water vapor to liquid water.
Water vapor in the air gets cold and changes back into liquid, forming clouds. This is called condensation.

12. Condensation

13. Condensation
You can see the same sort of thing at home... pour a glass of cold water on a hot day and watch what happens. 
Water forms on the outside of the glass.  That water didn't somehow leak through the glass!  It actually came from the air.  Water vapor in the warm air, turns back into liquid when it touches the cold glass.

14. Condensation

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

16. Precipitation

17. Collection
When water falls back to earth as precipitation, it may fall back in the oceans, lakes or rivers or it may end up on land. 
When it ends up 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, streams, lakes or rivers where the cycle starts all over again.

18. Collection

19. Runoff
Runoff occurs when the soil is completely saturated with water and the excess flows over the land.

20. Runoff

21. Questions

22. What is the sun’s role in the water cycle?

23. The sun’s energy powers the water cycle

24. How does the water cycle affect the Earth?

25. The water cycle allows all people, plants, and animals to have water that they need to survive.

26. How is a cloud formed?

27. In a process known as condensation
In a process known as condensation. When water vapor reaches the Earth’s atmosphere it gets cold and turns back into liquid. This causes a cloud to form.

28. What is water vapor?

29. Water vapor is when liquid water turns into a gas

30. What causes water to evaporate?

31. Heat from the sun

32. Where does the water go that does not evaporate?

33. It either runs off into a body of water or it soaks into the ground for plants to use