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The Water Cycle
Bret Medlin
EDT 365
Objectives
• Students will learn about the Water Cycle and
will be able to identify the different stages of
the cycle.
• Students will complete an activity at the end
of the lesson that shows a clear understanding
of the cycle.
Facts:
• Earth's water is always in movement.
• This natural water cycle is also known as
the hydrologic cycle and describes the
continuous movement of water on, above,
and below the surface of the Earth.
• The majority of the Earth’s water is
found in oceans, seas and bays.
• Water is always changing states
between liquid, vapor, and ice.
• These processes happen in the blink of
an eye and have been for millions of
years.
Evaporation
• Water changes from a liquid to a gas
• Evaporation occurs more rapidly at
warmer temperatures than at colder
temperatures.
Atmosphere
• The atmosphere is made up of gases
that surround the Earth.
*Click me to see Evaporation and
Atmosphere in The Water Cycle!
Condensation
• Water changes from a gas to a liquid.
• This occurs when water vapor gets
cold.
*Click me to see Condensation
in The Water Cycle!
What types of
water fall out of
the sky?
• Liquids: rain
• Solids: sleet, hail and
snow
Precipitation
• Water falls to the Earth in the form of
rain, hail, mist, sleet, or snow.
• Large amounts of precipitation
*Click me to see Precipitation in
The Water Cycle!
• Rain falls when growing water droplets
become too heavy to remain in clouds,
and fall toward the earth’s surface.
• Rain can also begin as ice crystals that
come together to form large
snowflakes.
– As the falling snow comes into contact with
warmer air, the flakes melt and collapse
into raindrops.
• Hail is a large frozen raindrop produced
by intense thunderstorms where snow and
rain can both exist.
• As the snowflakes fall, liquid water
freezes onto them forming ice pellets that
will continue to grow as more and more
droplets are accumulated. The hailstone
reaches the ground as ice because it is
not in contact with the warm air below the
thunderstorm long enough to melt before
reaching the ground.
• Sleet is frozen raindrops that bounce
when they hit the ground or hit
something else.
• Sleet begins as snow high in the
atmosphere and then partially melts in
warmer layers of air but then refreezes
in colder areas of air as it falls.
Sleet
Hail
• Snow is ice
crystals that form
into flakes.
• Snow forms at
temperatures
below freezing.
• For snow to reach the earth's surface
the temperature in the troposphere
needs to be at or below freezing. It can
be slightly above freezing in some
layers if the layer is not warm or deep
enough to melt the snowflakes too
much.
Collection
• Water that falls as precipitation comes
together in bodies of water.
• Oceans, rivers, lakes, and streams, or
underground storage make up these
bodies of water.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQKdkponoZM
Activity
• Imagine that you are a droplet of water
in the water cycle. Write a story about
your journey from one point in the
water cycle through the entire cycle,
using appropriate vocabulary. Draw and
color in a diagram demonstrating the
path that the water droplet takes.