Why Is There A Water Cycle For Kids? Get Everything You Need Below

Remember the song,' water cycle goes round and round, round and round all over the Earth.'

It is funny how water travels from a small puddle to the big oceans without getting on board a plane. But somehow, water reaches the sky and forms tiny droplets of rain before it returns to the Earth again, surfing on fluffy clouds.

It falls into deep blue seas or forms a puddle again, and the cycle goes round and round all over the Earth. The water cycle is indeed a cyclic process in which the initial and final form of water is the same.

A sequence of operations leads to the formation of water. Water is essential for all living things, and the water cycle ensures the balance of our ecosystem. The water cycle sustains life, as all living things directly or indirectly depend on water availability.

An excess of water in the environment can lead to natural calamities, while lack of it can lead to drought conditions. Therefore, it is important to maintain the right balance of water in nature to ensure a balance of the ecosystem.

Snow, ice, and glaciers are enormous storehouses of fresh water, and animals could not survive without water. Plants also cannot survive without water as they absorb their nutrients from the water present in the soil.

Did you know that this write-up on 'Why Is There A Water Cycle For Kids? Get Everything You Need Below' is a part of science lessons in the national curriculum in schools worldwide.

Kids worldwide are required to learn basic concepts of science like states of matter, different forms of water, and the water cycle. It is a natural cycle, and kids can relate their classroom lessons with various processes that occur in nature. Science is everywhere around us.

To every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Kids develop an understanding of the logic behind various real-life conditions like rain, ice, snow, drought, floods, and much more.

What is the water cycle?

The water cycle has been there on Earth for billions of years. It is an important part of nature, and the Earth would be pretty dry and stale without the water cycle.

Explaining the water cycle to kids can be a little tricky, especially since water changes its forms from one state to another. It can be made interesting by explaining the water cycle in a story.

In simple words, imagine a drop of water traveling from the surface of the Earth to the sky just like a hot air balloon and then back again, sometimes in the liquid form-water to form clouds, solid form-ice or snow, and gaseous form-water vapor.

Let's unfold this exciting journey of a water droplet in the form of a water cycle.

The water cycle is defined as the continual circulation of water in the Earth's atmosphere. In this water cycle, water changes its state through various stages like evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and collection of runoff.

The water cycle is a continuous process powered by the energy from the sun. As the sun's rays fall on a water droplet, it gets heated up and converts to the gaseous form of water vapor.

This water vapor is invisible, and as it reaches the sky, where it is very cold, it is converted to liquid form-rain. And in colder regions, it converts to solid form snow. Imagine these tiny drops of rain and ice or snow surfing on fluffy clouds.

Then fall back to the ground as rainfall or snowfall, and the cycle goes on and on. Like a roller coaster ride, the water droplet is taken round and round on the Earth.

From a broad perspective, did you ever wonder where is all of the Earth's water? Studies reveal that approximately 96.5% of the Earth's water can be found in the oceans.

Around 1.7% of the Earth's water is present in oceans, lakes, soil, rivers, and streams. Another 1.7% of the Earth's water can be found in cold climates in glaciers, snow, and polar ice caps. However, only 0.001% of the Earth's water is present in the Earth's atmosphere in water vapor.

Presently, technology is being applied to study the movement of water on the Earth. NASA's GRACE-FO (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment-Follow On) aims to study how the water movement from one month to another in the Earth's atmosphere and groundwater level hundreds of feet below the Earth's surface.

Parallelly, as the name suggests, NASA's Aqua Satellite studies the Earth's water cycle, including various water bodies like Earth's oceans, snow, sea ice, clouds, and many more.

Suppose you are wondering if you could measure water in the clouds. You got this covered by NASA's CloudSat, a mission to analyze the role of clouds in the Earth's climate.

Another mission called the Global Precipitation Measurement Mission(GPM) records where and how much it rains and snows on Earth.

So now, the water cycle is no more than a mysterious invisible cycle that decides the availability or unavailability of water on Earth.

Various science projects have been implemented to observe and record data that helps unravel the mysteries of the water cycle. So, before long, technology will bring a unique feature in weather news channels on the water cycle for the month and trace the water footprints in your region.

What is the process of the water cycle?

The water cycle process is a vital science lesson in the national curriculum. All the students must write a short note of the water cycle.

The water cycle is the continuous natural hydrologic process that describes the cyclic movement of recycling water on the surface of the Earth, to above the surface, and then back below the Earth's surface. The recycling water changes its states during this journey between liquid, vapor, and solid form.

The water cycle process involves four stages, namely evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and collection.

When the sun shines brightly, the sun's rays fall on the water in the oceans, rivers, and lakes get heated up. Some water from these water bodies like lakes and oceans is converted into a gaseous form of water vapor.

This water vapor formed by sea evaporation by heating water rises high above the lakes and reaches the skies. Water is also evaporated from plants and trees, and this loss of water from the plants and trees to its surrounding atmosphere is known as transpiration.

The second stage includes cooling down water vapor in the cool Earth's atmosphere to convert back into liquid form. This liquid form of water vapor molecules forms clouds, and wind currents move these clouds from one place to another. This cooling down water vapor to liquid water is known as condensation.

The next stage involves the precipitation process. Imagine a balloon that is filled with excess water.

What will happen? The balloon bursts and spills water on the floor. Similarly, when the forming clouds are laden with water droplets, they burst and waterfalls back to Earth in the form of liquid water or rain, sleet, snow, or hail, referred to as the precipitation process.

In the last stage of the water cycle process, fallen water on the Earth's surface gets collected back into various water bodies or by runoffs into rivers, lakes, and oceans. By precipitation in cold regions, this liquid water forms snow, glaciers, or ice.

Some liquid water moves into the soil by liquid infiltration forming the groundwater. Do you know that sometimes this liquid water moves into the soil, and enough water remains there for many years, known as fossil water?

And then the sun shines over these water bodies restarting the whole water cycle again. Did you know that this water cycle has been in existence ever since life formed on Earth?

There are various free printables of the water cycle for kids, which clearly explain the water cycle process.

The kids can color the water cycle printables and easily enjoy learning the water cycle process. Science projects that depict the water cycle can also be very interesting and interactive methods for explaining the process.

Small experiments on evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and sublimation can also enlighten and invoke interest in the amazing stages of the natural water cycle process for kids.

If the kids are too small to do these experiments like evaporation or sublimation, they can enjoy the songs and rhymes that describe a water cycle in a fun way.

There are various cartoons of the journey of a water droplet from Earth to the sky and then back to Earth again; that is another fun way to learn the water cycle.

Importance Of The Water Cycle

To have life on Earth, we need water, and the water cycle plays an integral part in ensuring that water is continuously available on Earth. By now, you must have heard that one must drink water to avoid water loss by a process called dehydration.

Have you ever wondered where did that glass of water come from? Water is formed continuously due to the water cycle process.

Everyone needs water to survive on Earth. Plants absorb water from the soil and absorb essential nutrients from it. Water helps in the transportation of food material in the plant.

Water vapor is released into the atmosphere by the process of transpiration. The water cycle helps maintain equilibrium in the ecosystem by making water continuously available to all living beings.

The water cycle determines the weather conditions of a particular region. The energy exchanges between the atmosphere and the water bodies determine the climate and the different weather conditions in the different areas of the Earth.

For example, suppose the sun is hot. In that case, water is evaporated quickly from various water bodies like lakes, oceans, and seas, leading to water scarcity and a shortage of plants and vegetation in the region.

Drought conditions lead to dehydration of plants and scarcity of crops. On the other hand, a good amount of rain ensures a good harvest of crops.

The atmosphere changes according to the amount of moisture present in the atmosphere, also referred to as the humidity level of the atmosphere. Various other factors, like temperature, Earth's rotation, height from the sea level, and others that determine the Earth's atmosphere.

If you live near the open ocean, you will notice that humidity is very high. If you live where ice and snow are covering the ground, then the atmosphere's temperature is very low at freezing levels.

Learning about the importance of the water cycle on Earth helps the kids understand the interconnection between important science concepts and real-life situations. Learning about the water cycle helps the kids understand rain, snow, the need to conserve water and avoid wastage.

Fun Facts About The Water Cycle For Kids

The duration of time a molecule of water remains constant in the same state and place is referred to as the residence time. Water in different parts of nature has different residence times.

For instance, the residence time of a single droplet of water in the atmosphere is nine days. In high contrast, the residence time of some snow ice sheets found in Antarctica is as long as 800,000 years.

Did you know that the level of oceans and rivers was 400 ft (121.92 m) below the present water level of these water bodies in the Ice Age? Also, during the era of the Ice Age, the Earth's surface was covered in ice and ice caps.

Bernard Palissy is a popular name in science, and he is known as the Godfather of the water cycle. The fun fact is that Bernard Palissy was a potter who introduced the important concept of the water cycle to the whole world.

If you are bored, you can try the online water cycle game that lets you collect water from a ground reservoir and virtually go through the water cycle changing state from liquid, gas, and ice form and then take it to the ocean.

Awesome water cycle games with rivers and clouds are interactive and exciting for kids.

Online water cycle games are the best bet for explaining the water cycle process to little kids.

Water cycle printables with sun, rivers, and oceans help your kid learn the water cycle concept artistically.

Water vapor from lakes and rivers rises high in the sky and forms clouds. Scientists apply technology to measure the amount of water reduced from lakes, rivers, and oceans. Open water surfaces like rivers and oceans are exposed to direct sunlight, and a significant amount of water is converted to water vapor by evaporation.

Did you know that water can produce electricity? When water flows at great speed, the kinetic energy of the moving water is converted to electric energy. This is known as hydropower or hydroelectricity.

The longest river on the Earth is the Nile river. Even the water from your urine or sweat is absorbed back into the atmosphere.

What do you call an underground reservoir? An aquifer.

Did you know that water treatment centers exist like medical treatment centers? Well talking about treatments, the UK has water treatment centers where various chemicals are added to polluted water to convert it into safe drinkable water.

Did you know that there is a water table in the Earth's crust below the ground? When it rains, water collects in these water tables by infiltration.

In this process, water seeps through the soil to collect in the water tables as groundwater. The water level in the water tables changes according to the amount of rainfall in that region.

If there were no rainfall, the water level in the water table would be very low. On the contrary, if the water level in the water table is high, it indicates that there has been a good amount of rainfall in that region.

How long can someone survive without water? On average, three days. Water is vital for all living things, and if there were no water, our bodies would stop functioning.

Human beings can live without food, but they cannot survive without water. Water is a major component of the human body and is essential for normal body functions. Unavailability of water can lead to dehydration, a severe condition in humans that can also be fatal if unattended.

Excessive dehydration can cause life-debilitating illnesses. Little kids are prone to dehydration, especially during physical activity or when sick.

Therefore it is important to provide an adequate amount of water to little kids. Kids going to school carry water bottles with them for proper hydration. Watery vegetables and fruits are also suitable for health and important for rehydration.