🌍 The Water Cycle
This process happens when water heats up and changes into a gas.
What is Evaporation
This type of water can be used for drinking, cleaning, and farming.
What is freshwater?
These natural areas help clean polluted water and support plants and animals.
What are wetlands?
This term describes all the water on Earth — salt and fresh.
What is the hydrosphere?
This word means “how salty the water is.”
What is salinity?
These form when water vapor cools and turns into liquid droplets.
What are clouds?
Most of Earth’s freshwater is stored in these three places.
What are glaciers, ice caps, and underground aquifers?
Name one reason why wetlands are disappearing.
What is pollution or construction?
This process removes salt from ocean water to make it drinkable.
What is desalination?
Which ocean has a salinity of about 35 ppt?
What is the Caribbean Sea?
Name all three states of water mentioned in the water cycle.
What are solid (ice), liquid (water), and gas (water vapor)
This man-made or natural place collects and stores water.
What is a reservoir?
About how many people lack access to clean water worldwide?
What is 1 billion people?
The majority (97.5%) of Earth’s water is this kind.
What is saltwater?
Ocean water near the equator is warmer than at the poles. Why?
What is because sunlight spreads out less near the equator
This energy source powers the entire water cycle.
What is the sun?
These frozen freshwater sources are hard to use because they are far away.
What are glaciers and ice caps?
Scientists predict this percent of people could face water shortages by 2025.
What is 75%?
This problem happens when people dump garbage into the ocean or build on coasts.
What is pollution?
This is why salinity is lower near rivers.
What is because freshwater mixes with saltwater?
Wind plays this role in the water cycle.
What is moving the clouds that release precipitation
Even though Earth is 71% water, only this small percent is freshwater.
What is 3%?
Give two solutions to help prevent freshwater shortages.
What are building reservoirs and reducing water waste (or protecting wetlands and rivers)?
Name two things that mix and move ocean water.
What are winds and currents, or waves, tides)
Explain why deep ocean water is colder than surface water.
What is because sunlight doesn't reach into the ocean?