The Water Cycle

More than 70 percent of the Earth's surface is covered by water. Some of the water evaporates from the surface of oceans, lakes and rivers, as well as plants because of the warmth of the sun. The water vapor rises and cools, and then condenses back into water to form clouds. The water droplets fall as rain or snow, which runs into the rivers and lakes or soaks into the underground layers of rock. Eventually the water returns to the oceans and completes the cycle.

Try It Yourself!

Here's an experiment you can try yourself:

Things you will need

warm water
jar
ice
metal dish

Anything that cools air significantly will cause water vapor to condense. If the warm, moist air comes into contact with a cold surface it will chill the air. You can make water vapor to condense and form a cloud by chilling air.

What to do

Place ice in the metal dish. Let it stand until it is very cold.

Place 1 inch (2.5 cm) of warm water in the jar.

Place the metal dish over the top of the jar. What is happening inside the jar? A cloud will form near the top as the warm water evaporates, rises and condenses.

A Poem on the Water Cycle

E-vap-or-a-tion

Con-den-sa-tion

Pre-cip--ita-tion on my mind

It is part of the water cyle

And it happens all the time!