Basic Processes
Water changing from liquid to gas is called:
Answer: What is evaporation?
Water leaving plants into the air is called:
Answer: What is transpiration?
Water vapor cooling and forming liquid is called:
What is condensation?
Water falling from the sky is called:
Answer: What is precipitation?
Water flowing over land is called:
Answer: What is runoff?
Evaporation happens most often in these places:
Answer: What are lakes, oceans, and rivers?
Water travels through plants from roots to:
Answer: What are leaves?
Condensation forms around these tiny particles:
Answer: What is dust?
Name two types of precipitation:
Answer: What are rain, snow, sleet, or hail?
Water soaking into the ground is called:
Answer: What is infiltration?
What energy source drives evaporation?
What is the sun?
Tiny openings on leaves are called:
Answer: What are stomata?
When water freezes in the atmosphere, it is called:
Answer: What is crystallization?
What force causes precipitation to fall?
Answer: What is gravity?
Water stored underground is called:
Answer: What is groundwater?
Why does evaporation happen faster on hot days?
Answer: Because heat energy from the sun increases, causing water molecules to move faster and escape into the air.
What causes transpiration to happen?
Answer: Energy from the sun
Frost is an example of this process:
Answer: What is crystallization?
How do water droplets become larger?
Answer: They collide and combine with other droplets.
Where does infiltrated water go after entering the ground?
Answer: Into soil and rock layers, becoming groundwater.
Explain why evaporation is an important part of the water cycle, not just what it is.
Answer: It moves water from Earth’s surface into the atmosphere, allowing it to later form clouds and precipitation, continuing the cycle.
How are evaporation and transpiration similar AND different?
Answer: Both move water into the atmosphere using energy from the sun, but evaporation comes from bodies of water while transpiration comes from plants.
Explain why cooling is necessary for condensation to occur.
Answer: Cooling slows down water vapor molecules so they come together and form liquid droplets.
Why doesn’t all condensed water immediately fall as precipitation?
Answer: Droplets must grow large and heavy enough through collisions before gravity can pull them down.
Compare runoff and infiltration and explain when each is more likely to happen.
Answer: Runoff happens when water cannot soak into the ground (like during heavy rain or on hard surfaces), while infiltration happens when water seeps into soil and rock.