500
Identify and explain the three main steps of the water cycle.
Water begins to evaporate (into water vapor) from bodies of water such as oceans, lakes, and rivers. As the water evaporates and begins to cool as it rises, it condenses (turning into liquid molecules) and begins to form clouds. As the liquid molecules begin to combine and the cloud becomes heavier, precipitation occurs, where the water returns to Earth's surface in the form of hail, sleet, freezing rain, snow, rain.