The sun’s energy is the driving force behind the water cycle. The sun heats
up water on land and in the oceans, lakes, and seas. The water changes
from liquid to vapor in a process called evaporation. The water vapor cools
and in a process called condensation forms droplets in the atmosphere.
These droplets become clouds. The droplets (or ice crystals if it’s cold
enough) gather and then fall from the sky in a process called precipitation.
This precipitation gathers in streams and rivers and flows and becomes run
off, flowing back down to the oceans, seas, and lakes.
Find the word
below in the grid to
the left.
cloud
condensation
energy
evaporation
hail
ice crystal
lake
ocean
precipitation
rain
river
runoff
sea
snow
stream
sun
water cycle
water droplet
water vapor
wind
1
Find the word below in
the grid to the left.
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
Across
Down
3. Ice crystals that fall from the
sky.
1. What provides the energy that
drives the water cycle?
6. Water that has been heated to a
gas.
2. The process of water droplets or
ice crystals falling from the sky.
9. Frozen rain.
3. A small body of water that
flows across the land.
10. A large body of water that
flows across the land.
12. A large body of salt water.
13. The process of changing from
water vapor to water droplets.
4. The process of water moving
through the world by precipitation,
evaporation, and condensation.
5. The process of water turning
into a vapor.
7. These form in the sky when
water vapor condenses into water
droplets.
8. A large body of fresh water.
10. Water that flows in streams
and river into the oceans and
lakes.
11. Water droplets that fall from
the sky.
Fill in the blanks below with words from this box:
evaporation
sunny
precipitate
evaporates
clouds
vapor
heating
heavy
oceans
droplets
plants
hail
runoff
snow
cycle
rain
rivers
streams
condenses
atmosphere
lakes
glaciers
crystals
Evaporation
On a warm, __________________ day, water in a glass of water seems to slowly
disappear. This is because the energy from the sun is _______________ the water up
and turning the liquid water into water ______________. This process is called
___________________. When the water ________________, it becomes an invisible
gas in the _____________________. Evaporation takes places all over the earth, but
especially in the ________________ and ________________ where there is lots of
water.
Condensation
As the water vapor rises, it cools off and ______________________ into water
_________________. If the water vapor becomes extremely cold, it will form ice
________________ instead of water droplets. As the water droplets or ice crystals
grow bigger and more numerous, they form ___________________.
Precipitation
If water droplets or ice crystals become too _______________, they can’t stay in the
air. They _________________. Water droplets precipitate as ________________
and ice crystals precipitate as _________________. Sometimes, the rain freezes
before it hits the earth and precipitates as _________________.
Runoff
This precipitation gathers into ________________ and
_________________ that flow down to the lakes and oceans.
This is called __________________. Not all of the water
makes it back to the oceans and lakes right away. Some of it is
used by animals and ________________. Some is frozen into
___________________. Eventually, the animals and plants
breathe the water out and the glaciers melt, releasing the
water back into the water _______________.
We can find water in many places and in many forms. Water can be solid,
liquid or a gaseous. Use the three words, solid, liquid, and gaseous, to
define all of these other water words. Another way to say ‘solid water’ is
‘frozen water’.
An ice cube
Rain
Steam
A snowflake
A river
Frost
Dew
An icicle
Hail
A stream
Vapor
Ice
A glacier
An iceberg
A waterfall
There are bodies of water all over our planet. Describe the different bodies
of water using the words small, large, fresh, salt, deep, shallow, protected,
still, and flowing. Try to use at least two adjectives per description.
A lake
A sea
A river
A pond
A stream
An ocean
A puddle
A bay
A creek
A cove
An inlet
A lagoon
An oasis
A tide pool