Water Cycle

sun

provides what almost everything on Earth needs to go---energy or heat

precipitation

rain, snow, hail

condensation

As warmer air floats up into the sky where it is cold, this happens and tiny liquid particles form...clouds.

groundwater

water that fills the cracks and pores in underground soil and rock layers

evaporation

changes liquid and frozen water into water-vapor gas, which then floats up into the skies to become clouds

runoff

water running off the land surface

transpiration

tiny holes in a plant's leaves that allow water to leave the leaf into the air

water vapor

the invisible, gaseous form of water

river

a natural stream of water of fairly large size flowing in a definite course or channel or series of diverging and converging channels

water cycle

the continuous process by which water moves through the living and nonliving parts of the environment

pond

a body of water smaller than a lake

clouds

a visible mass of condensed water vapor floating in the atmosphere, typically high above the ground

infiltration

water on the ground surface enters the soil

ocean

the vast body of salt water that covers almost three fourths of the earth's surface

lake

a body of fresh or salt water of considerable size, surrounded by land