-Water Cycle LabColorado Science Standard 6
Name:
Period:
The water cycle is a series of transitions than move water through the physical
environment. This cycle can be used to predict where water will most likely travel when
it is in one of the stages, and where water spends most of its time. In this lab we will be
exploring the many transitions that can occur in this cycle and predict where most of the
earth’s water is located at any given time.
The water cycle has no starting point. But, we'll begin in the oceans, since that is where
most of Earth's water exists. The sun, which drives the water cycle, heats water in the
oceans. Some of it evaporates as vapor into the air. Ice and snow can sublimate directly
into water vapor. Rising air currents take the vapor up into the atmosphere, along with
water from evapotranspiration, which is water transpired from plants and evaporated
from the soil. The vapor rises into the air where cooler temperatures cause it to
condense into clouds. Air currents move clouds around the globe, cloud particles
collide, grow, and fall out of the sky as precipitation. Some precipitation falls as snow
and can accumulate as ice caps and glaciers, which can store frozen water for
thousands of years. Snowpacks in warmer climates often thaw and melt when spring
arrives, and the melted water flows overland as snowmelt. Most precipitation falls back
into the oceans or onto land, where, due to gravity, the precipitation flows over the
ground as surface runoff. A portion of runoff enters rivers in valleys in the landscape,
with streamflow moving water towards the oceans. Runoff, and ground-water seepage,
accumulate and are stored as freshwater in lakes. Not all runoff flows into rivers,
though. Much of it soaks into the ground as infiltration. Some water infiltrates deep
into the ground and replenishes aquifers (saturated subsurface rock), which store huge
amounts of freshwater for long periods of time. Some infiltration stays close to the land
surface and can seep back into surface-water bodies (and the ocean) as ground-water
discharge, and some ground water finds openings in the land surface and emerges as
freshwater springs. Over time, though, all of this water keeps moving, some to reenter
the ocean, where the water cycle "ends" ... oops - I mean, where it "begins."
http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/watercyclesummary.htm
Lab Procedure:
1) You are now a water molecule, H2O, and you are going to flow through the water
cycle by moving to one of the nine stations throughout the room. Starting at your
table, roll the dice, consult the station card then move to the station that
corresponds to the number on the sheet. (Sometimes you will stay at the same
station.)
2) Keep track of how many times you are at each station in the chart below, as well
as the physical states you have been in.
3) Repeat these steps until you and a partner have recorded the results of thirty rolls.
Station
Times at station
Soil
Plant
River
Cloud
Ocean
Lake
Animal
Ground water
Glacier
From the chart above….
Total number of times as liquid:
Total number of times as solid:
Total number of times as gas:
_______
_______
_______
Physical State (solid, liquid or gas)
4) Once you have collected your data write it on the board in the chart provided by
your teacher. A student will compile it into total times at each station for the
entire class.
5) Consulting the board with the totals for the entire class, complete a bar graph for
the total number of times at each station. Include labels and data on the graph.
Questions: Answer each question using complete sentences.
1) From the chart, where does the Earth’s water spend most of its time? Why?
2) What is the most prevalent physical state of water on Earth?
3) Why does most of the Earth’s water contain salts?
4) What are the driving forces, the energy, behind the water cycle, what will cause water
to move? Explain your answer.
5) Give one possible pathway, that includes at least 5 moving transformations, for water
to get from the ocean into you and back to the ocean again
Station card
Soil - Liquid
1 = Plant
Liquid
2 = River
Liquid
3 = Ground water
Liquid
4 = Cloud
Gas
5 = Cloud
Gas
6 = Stay
Liquid
Station card
Plant - Liquid
1 = Cloud
Gas
2 = Cloud
Gas
3 = Cloud
Gas
4 = Cloud
Gas
5 = Stay
Liquid
6 = Stay
Liquid
Station card
River - Liquid
1 = Lake
Liquid
2 = Ground water
Liquid
3 = Ocean
Liquid
4 = Animal
Liquid
5 = Cloud
Gas
6 = Stay
Liquid
Station card
Cloud - Gas
1 = Soil
2 = Glacier
3 = Lake
4 = Ocean
5 = Ocean
6 = Stay
Liquid
Solid
Liquid
Liquid
Liquid
Gas
Station card
Ocean - Liquid
1 = Cloud
Gas
2 = Cloud
Gas
3 = Stay
Liquid
4 = Stay
Liquid
5 = Stay
Liquid
6 = Stay
Liquid
Station card
Lake - Liquid
1 = Ground water Liquid
2 = Animal
Liquid
3 = River
Liquid
4 = Cloud
Gas
5 = Stay
Liquid
6 = Stay
Liquid
Station card
Animal - Liquid
1 = Soil
Liquid
2 = Soil
Liquid
3 = Cloud
Gas
4 = Cloud
Gas
5 = Cloud
Gas
6 = Stay
Liquid
Station card
Ground water - Liquid
1 = River
Liquid
2 = Lake
Liquid
3 = Lake
Liquid
4 = Stay
Liquid
5 = Stay
Liquid
6 = Stay
Liquid
Station card
Glacier - Solid
1 = Ground water Liquid
2 = Cloud
Gas
3 = River
Liquid
4 = Stay
Solid
5 = Stay
Solid
6 = Stay
Solid
For this lab…
Planetary States of water
Soil –liquid
Plant –liquid
River –liquid
Cloud –gas
Ocean –liquid
Lake –liquid
Animal –liquid
Ground water –liquid
Glacier –solid ice