What is the Water Cycle?

The water cycle is a natural process that describes how water moves around our planet. It is important because it helps provide clean water for us to drink, wash, and play with.

Steps of the Water Cycle

The water cycle has four main steps: evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and collection.

1. Evaporation

Evaporation happens when the sun heats up water in rivers, lakes, and oceans. When the water gets warm, it turns into water vapor and goes into the air. For example, when you see steam from hot soup, that’s like evaporation!

2. Condensation

Next comes condensation. As water vapor rises into the cool air, it turns back into tiny water droplets. These droplets come together to form clouds. For instance, think of a cold drink sweating on a warm day. That’s water giving off condensation!

3. Precipitation

When the clouds get too heavy with water droplets, they let go of this water as precipitation. This can fall as rain, snow, or hail. We see this part of the water cycle often, especially when it brings refreshing rain.

4. Collection

The final step is collection. Water collects back into lakes, rivers, and oceans. It can also soak into the ground to help plants grow. For example, after it rains, you can see puddles of water on the ground. The water cycle then starts all over again!

Why is the Water Cycle Important?

The water cycle is very important for many reasons:

• It helps to keep our environment healthy.
• It provides water for animals and plants.
• It helps us have clean water to drink!

Learning about the water cycle teaches us how water travels and how we must take care of our planet. Now that we have learned about the water cycle, why not test your knowledge? Play the quiz below!