Hi, I am Professor Mois Ture and I will be telling you about water. You can call it RAIN. You can call it SNOW. You can call it SLEET. You can call it HAIL. But it’s WATER all the same. Did you ever wonder how old water is or where it comes from? The answers may surprise you.
The next time you see a pond or even a glass of water, think about how old that water might be. Do you really want to know ? I thought you did.
Did you brush your teeth this morning? Well, some of the water that you used could have fallen from the sky yesterday, or a week, or month ago. It’s pretty new.
But, some part of that water is very old and was around during the time of the dinosaurs, or even longer. Or maybe it’s a little newer; like from the time when the Pharaohs were building pyramids.
You see there is only a limited amount of water and it gets recycled. Yep! It keeps going round and round. We call it the "Water Cycle."
Yes – You have a question? No – It’s not like a jet-ski or a bicycle for water. It is nothing you can ride. It is how water keeps going round and round. Let me explain
First, I would like to say that water is very important. Imagine an empty lake. The fish would be very unhappy.
Imagine an empty ocean. Your day at the beach would be like going to a desert.
And since you are mostly made up of water - let’s just say you would be a lot lighter.
The Water Cycle has 4 parts. Evaporation, Condensation Precipitation, Collection
Evaporation When the water in an ocean, a lake, a pond, a river, or a stream is heated by the sun, it turns into vapor or steam. It then floats into the air.
Of course, when you are out on a hot day, or you exercise, you sweat. Well, guess what! That evaporates too.
What about those drops of dew on leaves, or the grass? Yes - They too evaporate and become a part of the Water Cycle.
Condensation As the water vapor gets cooled, it changes back into a liquid and turns into clouds.
Precipitation When the air in the clouds cannot hold any more liquid, it falls back to the ground.
It returns in different ways, depending on the temperature and where it comes down. It can fall as rain.
Or, it can fall as snow. (Did you know that no two snowflakes are the same?)
It can return as sleet, which is like rain that has almost frozen.
Or it can come as hail. Those frozen balls of rain that can actually break windows and dent cars.
Collection No matter how it comes down, it is collected and stored. It can fall into the ocean, lake, pond, river, or stream. If it lands on the ground, it may roll into a river or be sucked up by the soil. It may even pass through the ground to an underground lake or river to be used later.
Now, what happens tomorrow when the sun comes out? That’s right. The Water Cycle starts over again.
Oops,!…the sun is out! But don’t worry, Professor Mois Ture will return. After all, I am a part of the Water Cycle. Evaporation - Condensation- Precipitation - Collection
