Weather

Lesson One: What is the Water Cycle? Page 103 Vocabulary 1. Water Cycle The constant movement of water from Earths surface to the atmosphere and back to Earths surface. 2. Water Vapor The gas form of water. 3. Evaporation The process by which a liquid changes into a gas. 4. Condensation The process by which a gas changes into a liquid. Page 106 The Water Planet 5. Water covers almost of Earths surface. 6. A little more than 97 % of Earths water is found in the oceans. 7. Salty water is found in oceans and in some lakes. 8. People need fresh water to live. It is called that because it contains very little salt dissolved in it. 9. Less than 3 percent of Earths water is fresh water. 10.Most of the fresh water on Earth is frozen in ice caps and glaciers . 11.Glaciers are huge sheets of ice and most are near Earths poles. They can also be found on mountaintops. 12.Most of the remaining fresh water is found underground.

13.Underground water is the only source of fresh water for many people around the world. To get to this water, people have to pump it up to Earths surface. 14.Only 0.5 percent of all fresh water on Earth is found in the air, soil, rivers and fresh water lakes. Page 108 The Water Cycle 15. The water cycle is a never-ending process. 16. Energy from the sun drives the water cycle. 17. When the suns energy warms water on Earths surface, some of the water changes from a liquid to a gas. This gaseous form of water is called water vapor. It moves into the air. 18. When water vapor cools, it becomes liquid water again. 19.Most of the water moving through the water cycle comes from the ocean. 20. The suns energy heats the water on the oceans surface and turns it into water vapor. Winds carry the water vapor over land, where it becomes liquid water and falls as rain, snow, sleet, or hail. 21.Most rainwater comes from the oceans, so why is it not salty? As water evaporates from the ocean, the salt part stays in the ocean. 22.How does rain form? Water vapor rises into the sky after being heated by the sun. When enough joins together, clouds form and the clouds get bigger and heavier until they release water rain. 23.How does salt water become fresh water again? By the flow through the water cycle. Page 110 Evaporation 24. Evaporation is the process by which liquid changes into a gas. 25. Water evaporates because heat changes it from a liquid to a gas or water vapor.

26. Why is it hard to see evaporation happening? It is invisible 27. Water vapor mixes with other gases in the air. When the wind blows, the air moves. Page 111 Condensation 28. As air and water vapor move up into the atmosphere, they cool. 29. When the water vapor gets cold enough, condensation occurs, which is the process by which a gas changes into a liquid. 30. Air has dust particles in it. 31. When water vapor cools, it condenses, or changes to liquid, on the dust particles. 32. Condensed water and dust particles form clouds or fog, which is a cloud that forms near the ground. 33. Clouds that form very high up may be made of tiny ice crystals instead of water droplets because the air is below the freezing point of water. 34. Clouds stay in the air because the ice crystals and water droplets are tiny. 35. As condensation continues to build up, the drops become too heavy to float, so they fall to the Earth as rain. 36. Water may also fall to Earth as snow, sleet, or hail, if the air is cold enough for the water to freeze. 37. If the air temperature is below freezing, water vapor becomes a solid without becoming a liquid first. This forms snow.