Water Cycle

Explanation Text

The water cycle is also known as the hydrological cycle.  The water cycle is how the earth's water recycles itself.

The cycle includes precipitation, evaporation, condensation, and transpiration. Earth's water keeps changing from liquid water to vapour and then back to liquid water. This cycle happens because of the sun's heat and gravity.

First of all, water from lakes, rivers, streams, and the sea get heated up by the sun. Then, it turns into vapour that rises into the air.

Next, these water molecules form into clouds. This is because a condensation occurs.

When the air and the water cool, they form drops of water which then fall to the earth as rain.  If they are frozen, they become snow. Once the water reaches the ground, it can flow across the land until it reaches rivers, lakes, streams, or the sea.

It can also sink into the ground and flow because of gravity through gaps in rock, gravel and sand.  Because of this, it reaches these bodies of water too.

Next,  the cycle begins again, when water is evaporated once more.