unit 3 lesson 1 what is the water cycle? copyright © houghton mifflin harcourt publishing company

Unit 3 Lesson 1 What Is the Water Cycle?

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company


Florida Benchmarks


• SC.5.E.7.1 Create a model to explain the parts of the water cycle. Water can be a gas, a liquid, or a solid and can go back and forth from one state to another.

• SC.5.E.7.2 Recognize that the ocean is an integral part of the water cycle and is connected to all of Earth’s water reservoirs via evaporation and precipitation processes.


Water on the Move


• About 75 percent of Earth’s surface is covered by water.

• Water moves between Earth’s surface and the atmosphere in a process called the water cycle.

• The sun provides the energy needed for water to move in the water cycle.


Water on the Move


• Evaporation is the change from a liquid to a gas.

• The sun causes water to evaporate.

• When water evaporates, it forms an invisible gas called water vapor.


Water on the Move


• The atmosphere is the mixture of gases that surrounds Earth.

• Water vapor from evaporation rises into the atmosphere.

• Water vapor cools in the atmosphere to form clouds.

What Goes Up Comes Down


Condensation

• As water vapor cools, it loses heat energy to condense into liquid water.

• Condensation is the change of a liquid into a gas.


Condensation

• When water vapor condenses around tiny particles of salt and dust in the atmosphere, clouds can form.



Precipitation

• Clouds can contain liquid water or ice.

• Precipitation is water that falls from clouds to Earth’s surface.

• Forms of precipitation include rain, snow, and hail.



Precipitation

• Precipitation that falls into the ocean can be evaporated again quickly.

• Precipitation that falls on land may be temporarily stored.

• Depending on where it falls, water from precipitation may move quickly or slowly through the water cycle.




Where Does Water Go?


• When precipitation occurs, some water can re-enter the atmosphere right away.

• Some water may be stored underground.

• Water that is stored underground is called groundwater.




• How does precipitation get into the ground to become groundwater?




• Runoff is water that cannot soak into the ground and instead flows across Earth’s surface.

• Water flows downhill into low-lying areas, rivers, and streams.

• Once runoff enters a river, it flows toward an ocean or lake.




• Precipitation that falls in cold places may become part of a glacier.

• A glacier is a large, slow-moving mass of ice.

• Melting snow and ice can cause an increase in the amount of runoff in an area.




• Describe what is happening in the diagram.


A Precious Resource


• Fresh water can come from rivers, lakes, and aquifers.

• An aquifer is a body of rock that stores groundwater.

• The water in an aquifer can run low or be polluted by human activities.


A Precious Resource


• Which other states use the Floridan aquifer system?


A Precious Resource


• People cannot live without water.

• Precipitation adds water to aquifers in places called recharge zones.

• It may take groundwater in an aquifer up to a year to travel only 25 cm.

unit 3 lesson 1 what is the water cycle? copyright © houghton mifflin harcourt publishing company

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