Water
The Water Cycle
Water is everywhere. In fact, 70% of Earth is covered with water! Most of that water is in the 5 salty-water oceans on Earth. This means only a small amount of Earth's water is fresh and Michigan is lucky enough to have the largest supply of freshwater in the entire world! That, of course, is The Great Lakes.
Look outside. Is it raining? Snowing? Sleeting? Hailing? Can you see a lake or a river, or even an ocean? If you see any water at all, you have The Water Cycle to thank. The Water Cycle has been constantly moving for 4.5 billion years! This means that we could be drinking the same water the dinosaurs drank! That's kind of gross, but really cool, too, right?
The Water Cycle does a lot of work so that when we turn on the kitchen faucet, clean, fresh water comes pouring out. In order to understand all the work it does, though, we must take a look at the different stages water goes through and the different forms it can take in the cycle.
Water Vapor: Water Vapor is water in gas form. Sometimes it can be seen as steam, but other times we cannot see water vapor at all. This is what water turns into during evaporation.
Evaporation: As the sun heats up throughout the day, water all over earth – in rivers, lakes, streams, oceans, or even on your driveway or on the flowers in your garden – turns into water vapor. The water vapor leaves all of these places and enters the air. It looks like the water disappears and becomes invisible, but really it has turned into water vapor and entered the air, we just can’t see it!
Transpiration: Just like you sweat after running around outside or in gym class, plants sweat from being outside under the hot sun. Instead of sweating, it is called transpiring. When plants transpire, water exits their leaves and evaporates into water vapor. This water vapor enters the air.
Condensation: When all this water vapor in the air gets really cold, like right before it’s about to rain or snow, it clumps together to form clouds.
Precipitation: When enough water vapor has condensed into clouds, the clouds become very heavy. When the clouds cannot hold any more liquid, precipitation happens. Precipitation can be snow, rain, sleet, or even hail.
- - Water can take 3 different forms: solid, liquid, or gas.
Solid: Ice – in your freezer or on the driveway. Ice can also fall from the clouds as Hail.
Liquid: Rain – water comes out of the faucet as liquid and falls from the clouds as Rain.
Gas: Water Vapor – when water is a gas, called Water Vapor, it is invisible! We can't see it but it's there. On hot days when it is very humid and sticky outside, there is an extra amount of Water Vapor in the air.
All living things – ant to whale to flower – need water to survive. Humans do especially! Without water we would not be here. We know now that because of the Water Cycle we've been using the same water for 4.5 billion years. Now it's our job to make sure we continue to have just as much water for another 4.5 billion years!
Here's what YOU can do to help:
- Respect water. Don't waste what you don't need. Don't contaminate lakes, oceans, rivers or streams with chemicals or other materials.
- Turn off the faucet when brushing your teeth.
- Can't finish your water bottle? Give the water to a plant! (and recycle the plastic bottle!)
- Ask parents to fix leaky faucets.
- Turn off the sprinkler if it just rained or is expected to rain!
- Make sure your sprinkler is watering the lawn and plants – NOT the driveway or sidewalk.
- For more ways, visit: www.americanwater.com
The Water Cycle:
Here is a picture of the cycle.
- Can you point to the different stages?
- How does water get from one stage to the next?
- What are the 3 forms water comes in?
- Can you point to examples of these 3 forms?
Water Cycle Follow-Up Activities
Below are activities to download to learn more about the Water Cycle!
Water Cycle Word Scramble | |
File Size: | 142 kb |
File Type: |
Water Cycle Placemat | |
File Size: | 66 kb |
File Type: | gif |
Make Your Own Water Cycle | |
File Size: | 87 kb |
File Type: |
Citations: Thank you to the following contributors.
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency - http://www.epa.state.il.us/
U.S. Geological Survey - http://www.usgs.gov/
Kidzone - http://www.kidzone.ws/
The Great Lakes
The Great Lakes is the world's largest freshwater resource. That's why Michiganders are so lucky to be surrounded by miles and miles of fresh, clean water! The Lakes were formed when Ice Age glaciers melted 14,000 years ago, filling 5 (very large) holes. The region is so large, in fact, that astronauts can see The Great Lakes from the moon!
There are 5 Great Lakes and each is special and important for different reasons. How many lakes have you seen? How many have you swam in? Fished in? Boated in? In order to appreciate and respect The Great Lakes, it is important to know a little bit about each:
Superior: It is the world's largest freshwater lake! Lake Superior is the largest, deepest, and coldest of The Great Lakes. It is 350 miles across. That's almost 100 miles farther than the distance from Ann Arbor, MI to Charlevoix, MI! It is touched by Ontario, Minnesota, and Michigan.
Huron: It has 30,000 islands within its waters. It is the second largest Great Lake after Lake Superior. It is touched by Michigan and Ontario.
Michigan: It is the only Great Lake entirely within the United States; it is not connected to Canada. Water that enters Lake Michigan from rivers, streams, rain, or snow will remain there for 100 years. This is called a lake's retention time. It is touched by Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois, and Wisconsin.
Ontario: Lake Ontario's retention time is only 6 years. It is touched by Ontario and New York.
Erie: It is the shallowest, smallest, and warmest of The Great Lakes. It is the only lake that freezes over in the winter and almost 95% of the lake freezes over. It is touched by Ontario, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York.