The water cycle
Water goes round and round, and the total stays the same.
Snow melts, rivers flow
In summer some snow on the mountains melts and flows down as rivers into the oceans. In winter fresh snow falls and replaces it.
Does the water ever get used up and disappear from the Earth?
What this lesson covers
The idea
The water cycle is the continuous movement of water upward as vapour and downward through precipitation, through soil, rocks and plants and back to water bodies; it redistributes and replenishes water and conserves Earth's total water.
Snow melts, rivers flow
In summer some snow on the mountains melts and flows down as rivers into the oceans. In winter fresh snow falls and replaces it.
Does the water ever get used up and disappear from the Earth?
- No, it keeps moving round and round
- Yes, it disappears every year
- Yes, the Sun destroys it
Follow the drop
A drop travels round the loop. Tap each numbered stop.
A loop with no end
The drop went up, into a cloud, down as rain or snow, through soil, rocks and plants, and back to the water bodies. Then it started again. The water is moved around, not lost.
The water cycle is the continuous movement of water upward as vapour and downward through precipitation, through soil, rocks and plants and back to water bodies; it redistributes and replenishes water and conserves Earth's total water.
Notes
The water cycle is the continuous movement of water upward as vapour and downward through precipitation, through soil, rocks and plants and back to water bodies. It redistributes and replenishes water and conserves Earth's total water.
Check yourself
The continuous movement of water upward as vapour and downward through precipitation is called the …
In the water cycle, water goes up as …
After precipitation, water passes through soil, rocks and plants and finally returns to …
What does the water cycle do for the total amount of water on Earth?
- wind cycle. The movement of water up and down is called the water cycle, not the wind cycle.
- water cycle — correct. Yes!
- rock cycle. A rock cycle is about rocks, not about the movement of water.
- ice only. Water goes up as water vapour, after it evaporates.
- snow. Snow is a form of precipitation that comes down.
- water vapour — correct. Yes!
- water bodies — correct. Yes!
- the Sun. Water does not go to the Sun. It returns to water bodies such as rivers, lakes and oceans.
- space. The water stays on the Earth. It returns to water bodies.
- It uses it up. The cycle moves water around. It conserves the total amount.
- It conserves it — correct. Yes!
- It doubles it. The cycle does not make more water. It conserves the total amount.