Do you know where water comes from? Well, thanks to Green-Schools Ireland we are going to help teach everyone all about the water cycle!
The earth's water is always moving on, above, and below the surface of the earth. For example, a river flowing into an ocean. The amount of water on earth has remained more or less the same over time and it is continuously going through various processes that can change it into a liquid, gas or solid.
These processes are known as evaporation, transpiration, condensation, precipitation, and collection. Let’s look at what happens in each one.
From the video you can see how water gets from a cloud to a glass and how precious water is.
When water goes back into clouds again this creates a cycle which means it happens again and again. It is called the water cycle. Let's have a look at how it works.
Evaporation.
The sun causes water in the Earth’s rivers, lakes and oceans to heat up turning the water into a gas know as water vapour. This water vapour is found in the air.
Transpiration.
This process results in the release of water vapour from plants and soil into the air.
Condensation.
Occurs when water vapour in the air is cooled down and turns into liquid water droplets. These droplets then form clouds.
Precipitation.
The water droplets in the clouds become too heavy and begin to fall as rain, hail, sleet or snow.
Collection
This occurs when the water falls back to earth during precipitation and is stored in the earth’s lakes, rivers and oceans. It may also seep into the ground to form groundwater.
It collects in puddles too!
Green-Schools Ireland have lots of really great resources that teachers can use in class to help students learn all about where water comes from too!
