Water Cycle Activity

What is the Water Cycle?

Earth's water is always in motion. The Water Cycle (sometimes called the Hydrologic Cycle) describes the continuous movement of water on, above, and below the surface of the Earth. Since the water cycle is truly a "cycle," there is no beginning or end.

Water can change phase from liquid to solid (ice) to gas (water vapor) at various points in the water cycle. 

The cycling of water in and out of the gas phase plays an important role in determining atmospheric conditions, weather, and climate patterns. Water evaporates from the surface of the Earth, rises and cools, condenses into rain or snow, and falls again to the surface. The water falling on land collects in rivers and lakes, soil, and porous underground layers of rock (aquifers), and much of it flows back into the ocean.

Although the balance of water on Earth remains fairly constant over time, individual water molecules move around quickly. The water you drank yesterday may have fallen as rain half-way around the world last year, may have been part of the glacial ice sheet that covered much of North America 18,000 years ago, may have helped carve the Grand Canyon, or may have passed through a dinosaur 100 million years ago.

The Water Cycle is powered by solar energy and gravity.

Public domain image from:  http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/watercycle.html

The following processes are part of the Water Cycle. (Locate them on a picture of the water cycle.)

• Evaporation (from ocean, from land and from lakes) where water changes from liquid to gas
• Precipitation (water falling as rain, snow, sleet, or hail)
• Sublimation (where water changes in phase from solid snow or ice to gas)
• Surface runoff (from rainfall or snowmelt) as overland flow, streams, and rivers
• Infiltration into the ground (where surface water becomes part of the groundwater)
• Groundwater discharge to the surface in springs
• Temporary storage of water in solid form as snow and ice
• Temporary storage of water in liquid form in lakes
• Temporary storage of water in the atmosphere
• Temporary storage of water in the oceans
• Temporary storage of water in plants and animals
• Evapotranspiration (where water goes from plants back to the atmosphere)

Answer the following questions:

What are four different types of precipitation? _____________________

Trace the movement of a water molecule from the ocean to the rain that falls during a hurricane.

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Where does the water in a well come from?  How does the water get there?

 ____________________________

Trace the movement of a water molecule from the ocean to the water you get out of a well.

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Trace the movement of water you drink back to the ocean.

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Discussion question:

Where do you think the water cycle starts?

Given a list of terms below, sketch a picture or model of the water cycle, and include as many terms as possible in their proper position.  You may want to draw in mountains and the ocean, like the picture shown above.  Draw arrows to show transitions and water movements.  Work in groups of 3-5.  Use poster paper or chart paper and colored markers.  Share your pictures or models with the class.

1. Aquarium
2. Aquifer
3. Atmosphere
4. Beach
5. Bird
6. Boiling water with steam
7. Bottle of soft drink
8. Cloud
9. Comet impacting Earth
10. Condensation
11. Cow
12. Drinking water
13. Erosion
14. Evaporation
15. Evapotranspiration
16. Flood
17. Fog
18. Freezing
19. Freshwater storage
20. Geyser
21. Glacier
22. Gravity
23. Ground-water discharge (springs)
24. Groundwater storage
25. Hail
26. Humans
27. Humidity
28. Hurricane
29. Ice cubes
30. Ice and snow
31. Infiltration
32. Irrigation system on a farm
33. Lake
34. Melting
35. Ocean
36. Perspiration (sweat)
37. Plants
38. Precipitation
39. Rain
40. River
41. Runoff
42. Sediment
43. Septic system
44. Sleet
45. Snowflake
46. Snowmelt
47. Soil
48. Steam
49. Stream
50. Stream flow
51. Sublimation
52. Sun
53. Surface runoff
54. Swamp
55. Temporary storage
56. Thawing
57. Tomato
58. Tree
59. Thunderstorm
60. Urine
61. Waste water
62. Watermelon
63. Water tower
64. Well
65. Wind

Page created July 1, 2007