Vocabulary

1. Vocabulary

2. Match the term and its meaning

3. A cycle is something that happens over and over again. Many materials cycle through nature. Water moves through a cycle. Evaporation happens when the sun warms the water. The water changes to water vapor and goes into the air. Most evaporation is from the ocean. Condensation happens when the water vapor cools. Tiny droplets of water in the air form clouds. When the droplets become large enough, they fall as precipitation – usually rain or snow. Some water goes into the ground. It becomes groundwater. Other water goes into streams, rivers and lakes as runoff.

4. Questions • Name 2 kinds of precipitation. • What is evaporation? • What process happens after evaporation? • What is a cycle? • Why is temperature important in the water cycle?

5. Use these terms to label the diagram • Evaporation • Water vapor • Condensation • Precipitation • Run off • Snow • Rain • Hail

6. Evaporation vapor air lakes heating evaporation ocean On a warm, sunny day, water in a glass of water seems to slowly disappear. This is because the energy from the sun is _______________ the water up and turning the liquid water into water ______________. This process is called ___________________. When the water evaporates, it becomes an invisible gas in the _____________________. Evaporation takes places all over the earth, but especially in the ________________ and ________________ where there is lots of water.

7. Condensation Condenses raindroplets crystals As the water vapor rises, it cools off and ______________________ into water _________________. If the water vapor becomes extremely cold, it will form ice ________________ instead of water droplets. As the water droplets or ice crystals grow bigger and more numerous, they form ___________________.

8. Precipitation Heavy fall rain snow sleet If water droplets or ice crystals become too _______________, they can’t stay in the air. They _________________. Water droplets precipitate as ________________ and ice crystals precipitate as _________________. Sometimes, the rain freezes before it hits the earth and precipitates as _________________.

9. Runoff Rivers runoff cycle glaciers plants streams This precipitation gathers into ________________ and _________________ that flow down to the lakes and oceans. This is called __________________. Not all of the water makes it back to the oceans and lakes right away. Some of it is used by animals and ________________. Some is frozen into ___________________. Eventually, the animals and plants breathe the water out and the glaciers melt, releasing the water back into the water _______________.