Water Pops Up Everywhere!

Water exists in three different forms, or states: solid, liquid, or gas. The movement of water from one of these three states to another is the water cycle.

Ice is water in its solid state. As ice absorbs heat, it will eventually reach the melting point and become liquid.

Water in liquid form can change into gas without boiling. A puddle of water will absorb heat from the sunlight that strikes it, and slowly change into water vapor, which is a gas. The changing of a liquid into a gas is called evaporation.

These processes also work in reverse. Water vapor can give off heat and become a liquid, which is called condensation. Water can also give off heat and become a solid (when it freezes into ice).

The following is a paragraph that describes the water cycle. See if you can fill in the question marks with words or phrases that complete the sentences. If you don’t know the answer, roll over the question mark to see the correct word or phrase.

Water in the form of

snow and ice

? at the top of the mountain

melts

? and runs through rivers into lakes and oceans. The

sun

? heats the surface water causing it to

evaporate

? , or turn from a liquid into a

gas

? called

water vapor

? . That water vapor floats up into the

atmosphere

? and cools down. Then the water condenses and forms

clouds

? . As more water collects together in clouds, it becomes

heavy

? and falls to the ground as

precipitation

? , where it collects as

snow

? at the top of the

mountain

? or adds

liquid

? water to rivers, streams, the ocean, or

groundwater

? .