Snow is formed when cold air freezes the water droplets into ice crystals. As water vapor increasingly collects on the crystal, it becomes heavy and eventually falls from the sky. As the ice crystal falls, it may come into contact with warmer air that causes it to melt a bit.

There are four main parts to the water cycle: Evaporation, Convection, Precipitation and Collection. Evaporation is when the sun heats up water in rivers or lakes or the ocean and turns it into vapour or steam. The water vapour or steam leaves the river, lake or ocean and goes into the air.

The water cycle describes the existence and movement of water on, in, and above the Earth. Earth’s water is always in movement and is always changing states, from liquid to vapor to ice and back again.

Without the Sun there would be no water cycle, which means no clouds, no rain—no weather!” “And without the Sun’s heat, the world’s oceans would be frozen!” added Marisol.

The water cycle is an extremely important process because it enables the availability of water for all living organisms and regulates weather patterns on our planet. If water didn’t naturally recycle itself, we would run out of clean water, which is essential to life.

Precipitation is important for watering plants while also providing a source of water for other living things. Without precipitation, we’d have no water to drink and no water to swim in! Precipitation also helps to regulate water temperatures and water levels. Without precipitation we experience droughts.

Water Cycle Baggie This idea is an oldie, but a goodie. Draw the water cycle on a ziplock bag, put some water at the bottom, then tape it to the window. Observe it for a few days. You’ll see the evaporation and condensation right before your very eyes!

On a sunny day, the best way to power up the mini water cycle is to close the container and put it in the sun for several hours. As the water warms up, it evaporates and then condenses on the inside of the plastic lid. The water then “rains” on the environment inside the container and runs off to form little ponds.

This is a science lesson for students in grade three and four on the water cycle. Through this lesson students will be able to give an accurate and detailed description of the water cycle including the process that accompany it (evaporation, condensation, and precipitation).

Most of the water that evaporates from the oceans falls back into the oceans as precipitation. Only about 10 percent of the water evaporated from the oceans is transported over land and falls as precipitation. Once evaporated, a water molecule spends about 10 days in the air.

The water cycle describes how water evaporates from the surface of the earth, rises into the atmosphere, cools and condenses into rain or snow in clouds, and falls again to the surface as precipitation. The cycling of water in and out of the atmosphere is a significant aspect of the weather patterns on Earth.

The water cycle brings water to everywhere on land, and is the reason that we have rain, snow, streams, and all other kinds of precipitation. Stopping it would cause an endless drought. No water flow in lakes would cause overgrowth, killing many species of fish and other lake wildlife.

Precipitation alone The first published thinker to assert that rainfall alone was sufficient for the maintenance of rivers was Bernard Palissy (1580 CE), who is often credited as the “discoverer” of the modern theory of the water cycle.