the water cycle

"Water is life's matter and matrix, mother and medium. There is no life without water."
-Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, Hungarian Biochemist and Nobel Prize Winner for Medicine

Studying the water cycle opens up a host of science topics for students to learn about, including the processes of evaporation, condensation, precipitation and infiltration that make up the water cycle. In addition are topics such as clouds and weather, atmosphere and climatology, glaciers and oceans, and aquifers and groundwater.

All the water on earth is the same water that has been here throughout history! Water is continuously cycling in a process called the water cycle. This cycle describes the continuous changes of water on, in, and above the earth as it transforms from liquid to vapor to ice over and over again. All life on earth relies on the continuous functioning of the water cycle, and earth has been cycling its water successfully for billions of years.

Video Resources

Clouds are Cool (Grades K-5)

Dino Water (Grades K-5)

Learning About the Water Cycle (Grades K-5)

Climate Change Remix (Grades 6-12)

Enhanced Learning Activities

Water Phases of Matter (Grades 3-5)

Dive Into the Water Cycle (Grades 3-8)

How Does Climate Change Affect Sea Levels? (Grades 6-8)

Additional Resources

Water Science School: The Water Cycle  – USGS

Discover Water – Project Wet Foundation

NOVA Cloud Lab  – PBS

Meteorology: An Educator’s Resource for Inquiry-Based Learning for Grades 5-9  – NASA

American Meteorological Society

Kid's Crossing – University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR)