Water Cycle
Name one part of the water cycle.
precipitation, condensation, evaporation, runoff, transpiration.
Name a freshwater source
lakes, glaciers, ice caps, aquifers, streams, rivers.
Why is ocean water undrinkable?
It has a high level of salinity and is toxic.
They are incorrect because precipitation is when water falls from the sky in the form of rain, sleet, snow, or hail.
Name one form of precipitation
Rain, snow, sleet, hail.
Is water in the atmosphere saltwater or freshwater?
freshwater
It is crucially important to Earth's water cycle that our atmosphere is cold because... why?
1. Heat rises, so evaporation works because of a cold atmosphere the hot water can rise up to.
2. A cold atmosphere causes condensation, which creates clouds and precipitation.
What does distributed mean?
Spread out.
Where is most of earth's water located?
The ocean
T/F: most of Earth's water is freshwater
False
Explain how the sun's energy drives the water cycle.
It causes water to change from a liquid to a vapor.
What does brackish mean?
When seawater and freshwater mix.
Explain what evaporation is and how it works
As the sun heats water on the Earth's surface, it changes from a liquid to a vapor, and rises into the cold atmosphere.
T/F: Access to fresh water is not a big deal because most people in the world has clean drinking water.
False
Explain how evaporation acts as a natural water filter.
When water evaporates, it leaves behind the salt and dirt.
What does salinity mean?
measurement of how salty (measured in parts per thousands) a body of water is.
Explain how clouds form
As water evaporates into the cold atmosphere, condensation forms, and when the water drops are heavy enough, they fall back to earths surface as precipitation.
Explain how salinity in the ocean near a freshwater river would differ compared to salinity in the middle of the carribbean sea.
Salinity near a freshwater source is higher because the salty water becomes "diluted" with fresh, unsalty water.
Infer: If you live in a location with very fertile soil and rich farmland, which part of the water cycle do you likely observe more often than you would observe if you lived in a desert?
precipitation
How does reverse osmosis work?
1. Start with freshwater on one side and dirty water on the other side of a membrane or filter.
2. Apply pressure to the dirty water side, and the freshwater molecules will squeeze back through the tiny holes in the membrane, joining their freshwater molecule friends, while leaving behind the dirty water.