Water Cycle EXAM

1. The water cycle is a very complex cycle that happens throughout the whole world. Many things happen throughout the water cycle such as: evaporation, transpiration, condensation, precipitation, infiltration, surface runoff, groundwater, and absorption. Evaporation is when water molecules heat up and transform into their gaseous state.(1) When evaporation takes place, condensation can happen. This is when things, such as a cold glass of tea, are sitting out and the water molecules become drawn to the glass. They then “stick” to the sides of the glass and form water droplets. When water evaporates it goes up into the sky to form clouds. During evaporation, if enough water gets into the atmosphere, clouds can form. Once these clouds get big enough and can’t hold anymore water, they release precipitation.(2) Precipitation is all forms of water that fall from the sky such as: rain, snow, sleet and hail. Precipitation then hits the ground and becomes either surface runoff, groundwater, or absorbs into the earth. If it is absorbed into the earth, trees can take the water up through their roots. The water that the trees don’t use goes through transpiration. Transpiration is just like evaporation except it is through the leaves of trees. The trees let all extra water through their leaves and into the atmosphere.
2. Water flows through the watershed and goes through all of your conceivable places to get to where it is located today. (3)Water in streams generally tends to flow into rivers or ponds. The rivers flow straight into the lakes and wetlands that we have today. The lakes and wet lands are directly connected through the bottom of their ground in the lake to the ground water system.(4)Ground water flows directly into and out of the lakes and wetlands.
3. Rivers and streams are both usually very shallow and have clearly defined banks. There are many different parts of rivers and streams such as: the mouth the bedrock and the bank.(2)The mouth of the river or stream is where the water empties into a bigger water basin such as a pond or a lake. The bedrock is is all of the rocks at the bottom that either stay in place or drift along.(3) Thesmaller rocks usually are the ones that drift along and erode the bigger rocks. Rivers and streams often times flood due to precipitation.

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/earth/Watercycle.shtml

http://www.sperchemical.com/html/minerals_in_water.html

http://www.limpoporak.com/en/river/hydrology/principles+of+hydrology/surface+water/stream+order.aspx?print=1

Bib:

1. "Source of Minerals in Municipal Water Supplies." SPER Chemical - Quality Water Treatment Sequester Minerals, Corrosion Control. Web. 22 Nov. 2011. http://www.sperchemical.com/html/minerals_in_water.html.
2. "Rivers and Streams, from USGS Water Science for Schools." USGS Georgia Water Science Center - Home Page. Web. 22 Nov. 2011. http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/earthrivers.html.
3. "How a River Flows." Stream Biology and Ecology. Web. 22 Nov. 2011. http://chamisa.freeshell.org/flow.htm.
4. "Water Cycle - Animated Diagram." Earthguide: Educational Resources in Earth, Marine, Environmental and Planetary Sciences. Web. 22 Nov. 2011. http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/earthguide/diagrams/watercycle/.
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