The Water Cycle
Key Concepts
Vocabulary
Cloud Formation
Random
100

This process, responsible for most of the water entering Earth’s atmosphere, is powered almost entirely by the Sun.  

Evaporation

100

The troposphere is ________ the higher you go.

colder

100

A measure of how hot or cold something is

Temperature

100

Which condition is MOST necessary for clouds to form? A. Strong winds
B. High temperatures
C. Cooling air
D. Low humidity

C. Cooling Air

100

What is the main energy source that drives weather on Earth? 

A. Earth’s core
B. The Moon
C. The Sun
D. Ocean currents

C. The Sun

200

Clouds form during this stage of the water cycle when water vapor cools and turns back into liquid droplets.

condensation

200

Energy transfers from warm air to cold air until their temperatures become_________________.

Equal

200

the process by which a liquid changes into a gas

evaporation

200

Fog is essentially which of the following?
A. Clouds that form underground
B. Clouds at ground level
C. Clouds made only of ice
D. Clouds formed by pollution

B. Clouds at ground level

200

Which type of front often brings thunderstorms?

A. Warm front
B. Cold front
C. Stationary front
D. Occluded front

B. Cold Front

300

Rain, snow, sleet, and hail are all examples of this part of the water cycle.

precipitation 

300

What is an important cause of rainfall?

Cooling

300

Conditions such as rain, clouds and wind at a particular time and place

Weather

300

Explain what happened during the Great Flood of 1862.

The winter was warmer than normal which let to more evaporation to take place. The air parcel rose higher into the troposphere than the cooler air parcels that caused normal rain storms. 

300

What tool measures air pressure?
A. Thermometer
B. Anemometer
C. Barometer
D. Hygrometer

C. Barometer

400

This process releases water vapor from plants into the air. 

A) condensation

B) transpiration

C) advection

D) deposition 

B) transpiration

400

The warmer an air parcel is, the ________ it will rise into the troposphere. 

Higher

400

Something we observe to be similar over and over again

Pattern

400
What kind of clouds are usually made up of tiny ice crystals, and the ice crystals are spread too far apart to collide and form snowflakes?


A. Stratus
B. Cumulonimbus
C. Wispy
D. Nimbostratus

C. Wispy

400

When air sinks in a high‑pressure system, the weather is usually: 

A. Stormy
B. Cloudy
C. Calm and clear
D. Windy and rainy

C. Calm and clear

500

What keeps the process of water moving downward?

Gravity

500

When the ______ has lost enough energy and become ____ enough, water vapor in the parcel condenses, forming a cloud.

air parcel, cold

500

To move from one object to another or one place to another

Transfer

500

Explain why all clouds do not produce rain.

Clouds produce rain when tiny droplets of liquid water began to stick together, forming larger and larger drops. The conditions have to be right from those processes to take place

500

Which cloud type is most associated with thunderstorms?
A. Cirrus
B. Stratus
C. Cumulonimbus
D. Altostratus

C. Cumulonimbus