The Water Cycle
By: Chelsey Cochran
Did you know the water you are drinking is 100's of years old? The water cycle is when water moves from land to the sky and back again. Water goes through the water cycle over and over again.
The water cycle has many parts. The four main parts include evaporation, condensation, precipitation and collection. Each part is important to help the water cycle continue.
The sun shines down on water all around the world. The heat from the sun causes the water to evaporate. Evaporation is when the water changes from a liquid to a gas and goes into the sky.
The water is now a gas, known as water vapor. It travels up through the sky. The water vapor collects up in the sky to form clouds.
The next phase of the water cycle is condensation. Condensation is when the water vapor cools down and changes back into water. This means the gas changes back into a liquid.
As condensation happens the water collects inside of the clouds. The clouds begin to get heavy. After a large amount of water collects inside the clouds, they can not hold it anymore.
The clouds let the water come back down to earth through precipitation. Precipitation is when the water falls back down to earth in the form of rain, snow, sleet or hail.
When the water falls back down to earth it has to go somewhere. Collection happens as water falls into lakes, rivers, oceans and even on land. The water is stored in these places until the water cycle begins again.
Now, the water cycle may begin again. The water cycle never stops. Our water gets recycled through the water cycle over and over again for us to use.
