WATER CYCLE VOCABULARY
Evaporation- The process by which water molecules in liquid water escape into the air as water vapor. This happens after the sun heats up the water.
Condensation- Process by which molecules of water vapor in the air become liquid water.
Cloud Formation- When warm, moist air rises and cools, condensing water vapor forms billions of little crystals on particles in the air that come together to form clouds.
Precipitation- Any form of water that falls from clouds and reaches Earth's surface
Infiltration- The downward movement of water through soil
Transpiration- Plants use water in the soil then release in into the air through their leaves
Surface Runoff- When the ground cannot hold anymore water, the excess flows downhill over the land
Groundwater- Precipitation that seeps into the soil and fills up the spaces between rock, soil and sand
Absorption- The removal of water from the soil by roots.
Water Cycle- The continuous movement of water among Earth's atmosphere, oceans and land surface. It NEVER stops!
Water Shed- The land area drained by a river. One watershed is divided or separated from another by a ridge or a rise in the land. Streams and rivers that join another river become a larger watershed.