Water Cycle Study Guide
Vocab to know and understand
Groundwater
Surface Water
Water Cycle
Watershed
Water Vapor
Condensation
Evaporation
Precipitation
Transpiration
Absorption
Dew
Fog
Infiltration
Clouds
Cloud Formation
Convection
Energy
Solar Energy
Concepts to know and understand
The steps involved in the water cycle are: precipitation, absorption, infiltration, groundwater/groundwater
storage, (surface water, rivers, lakes, etc), runoff, freshwater storage, evaporation, plant intake and
transpiration, condensation, cloud formation, clouds, precipitation. Use these steps in the following two
concepts.
Draw a diagram of the water cycle and be able to label each step.
What is the path a drop of water would follow through the water cycle. Start with
precipitation.
Where is the largest supply of fresh water found?
How does the ocean water get back to the rivers?
Transpiration is to plants as what is to people?
What are some examples of condensation?
What does the amount of water contained in a watershed depend on?
Where does fresh water come from?
In regards to groundwater, where does it come from?
What are the uses of groundwater?
What is the order of the Clinton River Watershed as it travels to its final
destination?
What causes the flow of a watershed? In other words, what makes it flow?
Water Cycle Study Guide – Answers
Vocab to know and understand
Groundwater – Large amounts of water stored below the Earth’s surface.
Surface Water – Rain that falls on saturated or impervious (not penetrable) ground
and flows downhill.
Water Cycle – Continuous movement of water on or below Earth’s surface.
Watershed – Land area that supplies water to a rive system.
Water Vapor – The name for H2O in the gaseous state.
Condensation – The cooling of water vapor allowing it to be turned back into
liquid.
Evaporation – The process by which liquid changes into a gaseous state and enters
the atmosphere.
Precipitation – Cloud droplets or ice crystals that grow heavy enough to be pulled
by gravity to the ground.
Transpiration – The return of water into the air due to plant leaves ‘sweating’.
Absorption – The process of the ground taking in water until it is saturated or filled
and can’t take in any more water.
Dew – Water droplets condensed in air, usually in night, onto cool surfaces.
Fog – Air that is filled with water vapor (humidity) and comes into contact with a
colder surface such as the cooler ground.
Infiltration – Water that falls on the soil and eventually moves through the soil and
subsurface.
Clouds – Things formed in the atmosphere when air containing water vapor rises
and cools, collects around dust, smoke or salt particles and forms water droplets.
Cloud Formation – Water vapor in the atmosphere that has condensed into the
liquid state of water.
Convection – The transfer of heat by movement of a fluid (liquid or gas).
Energy – The capacity for vigorous or available power.
Solar Energy – Energy radiated from the sun in the form of light or heat.
Concepts to know and understand
The steps involved in the water cycle are: precipitation, absorption, infiltration, groundwater/groundwater
storage, (surface water, rivers, lakes, etc), runoff, freshwater storage, evaporation, plant intake and
transpiration, condensation, cloud formation, clouds, precipitation. Use these steps in the following two
concepts.
Draw a diagram of the water cycle and be able to label each step.
What is the path a drop of water would follow through the water cycle. Start
with precipitation.
Precipitation, Evaporation, Condensation.
More specifically: Precipitation, absorption, infiltration, groundwater
(surface water, rivers, lakes, etc), evaporation, plant intake and transpiration,
condensation, cloud formation, clouds, precipitation.
Where is the largest supply of fresh water found?
Groundwater
How does the ocean water get back to the rivers?
Water cycle
Transpiration is to plants as what is to people?
Perspiration (sweat)
What are some examples of condensation?
Water on a glass, water on a bathroom mirror,
What does the amount of water contained in a watershed depend on?
The outflow point.
Where does fresh water come from?
Precipitation, springs, wells, the ocean (once salt is removed)
Where does groundwater ultimately come from?
Precipitation.
What are the uses of groundwater?
Plants survival, wells (human consumption),
What is the order of the Clinton River Watershed as it travels to its final
destination?
Clinton River, Lake St. Clair, Detroit River, Lake Erie, Niagara Falls/Lake
Ontario, St. Lawrence River, Gulf of St. Lawrence, Atlantic Ocean.
What causes the flow of a watershed? In other words, what makes it flow?
Gravity.