All content from Kiddle encyclopedia articles (including the article images and facts) can be freely used under Attribution-ShareAlike license, unless stated otherwise. Cite this article:
Water cycle Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.
Water cycle facts for kids
The water cycle is the cycle that water goes through on Earth.
Water is essential for life as we know it. It is present throughout the Solar System, and was part of the Earth from its formation. The source of the water was the same as the source of the Earth's rock: the cloud of particles which condensed in the origin of the solar system.
The cycle
- First, water on the surface of the Earth evaporates.
- Then, water collects as water vapor in the sky. This makes clouds.
- Next, the water in the clouds gets cold. This makes it become liquid again. This process is called condensation.
- Then, the water falls from the sky as rain, snow, sleet or hail. This is called precipitation.
- The water sinks into the surface and also collects into lakes, oceans, or aquifers. It evaporates again and continues the cycle.
Images for kids
-
Diagram of the Water Cycle
-
The water cycle
-
Many different processes lead to movements and phase changes in water
-
Time-mean precipitation and evaporation as a function of latitude as simulated by an aqua-planet version of an atmospheric GCM (GFDL’s AM2.1) with a homogeneous “slab-ocean” lower boundary (saturated surface with small heat capacity), forced by annual mean insolation.
-
Global map of annual mean evaporation minus precipitation by latitude-longitude