The water cycle describes the continuous movement of water on, above, and below the surface of the Earth. Water can exist in three states: solid (ice/snow), liquid (water/rain), and gas (water vapor). The sun provides energy that evaporates water from oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, and plants, which rises into the air as water vapor. Water vapor condenses to form clouds and precipitates as rain, snow, or hail back to the ground, where it collects in bodies of water or on land as groundwater, sustaining life and continuing the cycle.

1. WATER CYCLE
STATES OF MATTER

2. THE STATES OF MATTER
SOLID LIQUID GAS
WATER
VAPOUR
SNOW
ICE
RAIN
(WATER)
THE STATES OF WATER

3. SOLID
LIQUID GAS
GETTING HOTTER
GETTING COLDER
PHASE CHANGES OF MATTER
MELTING EVAPORATION
FREEZING CONDENSATION
SUBLIMATION
DEPOSITION

4. WATER CYCLE
EVAPORATION
(from oceans,
seas, lakes, rivers)
CONDENSATION
(Cloud formation)
PRECIPITATION
(Raining, hailing
or snowing)
TRANSPIRATION
(from plants)
COLLECTION
Surface
runoff
Groundwater

5. EVAPORATION
The Sun heats up water from
oceans, rivers, seas, lakes,…
that changes into water vapour
and evaporates to the sky.
TRANSPIRATION
The Sun heats up water
from plants that changes
into water vapour and
evaporates to the sky.

6. CONDENSATION Water vapour in the air gets
cold and changes back into
liquid (drops of water),
forming clouds.

7. PRECIPITATION
Any form of water, such as rain, hail or snow, formed
by condensation of water vapour in the atmosphere,
falls to the earth's surface.
Snowing
Raining
Hailing

8. COLLECTION
When water falls back to earth as precipitation, it may fall
back in the oceans, lakes or rivers or it may end up on land.
When it ends up on land, it will either soak into the earth and
become part of the “groundwater” that plants and animals
use to drink and goes to the seas/oceans or it may run over
the soil and collect in the oceans, lakes or rivers where the
water cycle starts all over again.