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Middle school Earth and space science - NGSS
Unit 3: Lesson 1
The water cycleThe water cycle
NGSS.MS:
MS‑ESS2‑4
, MS‑ESS2.C.1
, MS‑ESS2.C.3
Review your understanding of the water cycle in this free article aligned to NGSS standards.
Key points:
- The water cycle describes how water continuously moves between Earth’s surface and the atmosphere.
- This movement occurs by different physical processes.
- Water moves into the atmosphere from oceans, lakes, and streams by evaporation. During evaporation, water changes from liquid water to water vapor (a gas).
- Water also moves into the atmosphere by transpiration, or the evaporation of water from plants. Both evaporation and transpiration are driven by the sun’s energy.
- Water forms clouds in the atmosphere by condensation. During condensation, water changes from water vapor to liquid water.
- Water falls down to Earth’s surface by precipitation. This process is driven by gravity. Of the water that reaches land, some flows downhill as runoff and some soaks into the ground to become groundwater.
Want to join the conversation?
So transpiration can happen to all plants?(15 votes)
Transpiration in plants occurs in all living species with few exceptions, so whether you own an orchard or are growing a lawn, transpiration is an essential active process.(16 votes)
what happens if we cover the ocean(5 votes)
The vapor would go through it but if we use metal it would just keep all the vapor inside of the metal and when we take it off you will see a lot of vapor.I wonder if that would form new clouds live?(2 votes)
why do plants evaporate water?(5 votes)
Plants have small holes in their leaves called stomata that water evaporates through. Evaporating water through the stomata creates a capillary action that draws new water into the plant through its roots. The capillary action is advantageous for two reasons. First, it allows the plant to pump water from the ground to its leaves without using energy. Second, cycling new water into the plant provides it with fresh nutrients.(1 vote)
- Can you physically see the evaporation happening(5 votes)
- If you have a container of water that no water is being added to and you watch it closely, then you will eventually observe that there is less water in it than before.(1 vote)
- How much water vapor does it take to make a full water cycle?(4 votes)
- what turns water on the Earth into vapor in the water cycle?(2 votes)
The sun's heat turns the water into vapor. like when we put water to boil you see steam, that steam is the water vapor.(5 votes)
- can evaporation happen over the winter where it frezzes(3 votes)
- By definition, evaporation is the process of matter going from the liquid phase to the gas phase. Therefore, frozen water can not evaporate because frozen water is solid. However, frozen water can sublimate, which is transforming from solid directly to gas.(2 votes)
So its only called evaporation because of its use of vapor?(4 votes)- is the sun the only thing that can make water evaporate?(2 votes)
- For water to evaporate, the environment must be heated. Air that is both warm and dry can give this heat. The evaporation of water inside a confined space serves as an illustration. As a result, sunshine is not required for water to evaporate. so it doesn't need to be direct sunlight to be evaporated.
Hopes it helps. :)(4 votes)
- how to identify the water cycle(3 votes)
- If it is raining that a water cycle or if its humid (meaning water in air when the air gets hot and sticky) that’s also part of a water cycle every bit of water out in the wild is part of a water cycle in some way and you can identify it by looking at those examples.(1 vote)