Unit 3 Lesson 1 What Is the Water Cycle?
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Unit 3 Lesson 1 What Is the Water Cycle?
Florida Benchmarks
• SC.5.E.7.1 Create a model to explain the parts of
the water cycle. Water can be a gas, a liquid, or a
solid and can go back and forth from one state to
another.
• SC.5.E.7.2 Recognize that the ocean is an integral
part of the water cycle and is connected to all of
Earth’s water reservoirs via evaporation and
precipitation processes.
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Unit 3 Lesson 1 What Is the Water Cycle?
Water on the Move
• About 75 percent of Earth’s surface is covered by
water.
• Water moves between Earth’s surface and the
atmosphere in a process called the water cycle.
• The sun provides the energy needed for water to
move in the water cycle.
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Unit 3 Lesson 1 What Is the Water Cycle?
Water on the Move
• Evaporation is the change from a liquid to a gas.
• The sun causes water to evaporate.
• When water evaporates, it forms an invisible gas
called water vapor.
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Unit 3 Lesson 1 What Is the Water Cycle?
Water on the Move
• The atmosphere is the mixture of gases that
surrounds Earth.
• Water vapor from evaporation rises into the
atmosphere.
• Water vapor cools in the atmosphere to form
clouds.
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Unit 3 Lesson 1 What Is the Water Cycle?
What Goes Up Comes Down
Condensation
• As water vapor cools, it loses heat energy to
condense into liquid water.
• Condensation is the change of a gas into a
liquid.
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Unit 3 Lesson 1 What Is the Water Cycle?
Condensation
• When water vapor condenses around tiny particles
of salt and dust in the atmosphere, clouds can
form.
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Unit 3 Lesson 1 What Is the Water Cycle?
Precipitation
• Clouds can contain liquid water or ice.
• Precipitation is water that falls from clouds to
Earth’s surface.
• Forms of precipitation include rain, snow, and hail.
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Unit 3 Lesson 1 What Is the Water Cycle?
Precipitation
• Precipitation that falls into the ocean can be
evaporated again quickly.
• Precipitation that falls on land may be temporarily
stored.
• Depending on where it falls, water from
precipitation may move quickly or slowly through
the water cycle.
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Unit 3 Lesson 1 What Is the Water Cycle?
Where Does Water Go?
• When precipitation occurs, some water can reenter the atmosphere right away.
• Some water may be stored underground.
• Water that is stored underground is called
groundwater.
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Unit 3 Lesson 1 What Is the Water Cycle?
Where Does Water Go?
• How does precipitation get into the ground to
become groundwater?
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Unit 3 Lesson 1 What Is the Water Cycle?
Where Does Water Go?
• Runoff is water that cannot soak into the ground
and instead flows across Earth’s surface.
• Water flows downhill into low-lying areas, rivers,
and streams.
• Once runoff enters a river, it flows toward an
ocean or lake.
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Unit 3 Lesson 1 What Is the Water Cycle?
Where Does Water Go?
• Precipitation that falls in cold places may become
part of a glacier.
• A glacier is a large, slow-moving mass of ice.
• Melting snow and ice can cause an increase in the
amount of runoff in an area.
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Unit 3 Lesson 1 What Is the Water Cycle?
Where Does Water Go?
• Describe what is happening in the diagram.
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Unit 3 Lesson 1 What Is the Water Cycle?
A Precious Resource
• Fresh water can come from rivers, lakes, and
aquifers.
• An aquifer is a body of rock that stores
groundwater.
• The water in an aquifer can run low or be polluted
by human activities.
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Unit 3 Lesson 1 What Is the Water Cycle?
A Precious Resource
• Which other states use the Floridan aquifer system?
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Unit 3 Lesson 1 What Is the Water Cycle?
A Precious Resource
• People cannot live without water.
• Precipitation adds water to aquifers in places
called recharge zones.
• It may take groundwater in an aquifer up to a
year to travel only 25 cm.
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