Exploring the Water Cycle
Learning Objective
I can describe the different stages of the water cycle.
Key Concepts
The water cycle is a continuous process that moves water between the Earth's oceans, atmosphere, and land.
Evaporation is when liquid water turns into water vapor, while condensation is when water vapor cools and turns back into liquid.
Water that falls back to Earth as rain, snow, sleet, or hail is called precipitation, and it can either fall into a body of water or be absorbed by plants through plant uptake.
Practice Questions
This lesson includes 3 practice questions to reinforce learning.
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1. Imagine you see water droplets forming on the outside of a cold glass of lemonade on a hot day. Which stage of the water cycle is most similar to what is happening to the water vapor in the air?
2. Describe what happens to rainwater after it falls on land and is NOT taken up by plants or immediately returned to a body of water.
3. Explain how sublimation and deposition are different from evaporation and condensation.
Educational Video
The Water Cycle - How Water Moves Through Earth's Systems
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