Water is constantly being recycled so the water you drink today could be the same water dinosaurs drank millions of years ago. Water is not only stored underground but also in icecaps, snow, and glaciers. Really old groundwater is called fossil water.Ībout 70% of the Earth's surface is covered with water. Groundwater or water stored in the Earth's surface can remain there for thousands of years before moving. When water evaporates into the atmosphere, it cools and condenses to form clouds through a process called condensation.Īquifers are underground water reservoirs made of rocks and minerals that store freshwater. Transpiration is the process by which water evaporates from plant leaves into the atmosphere. Whenever water changes from one state to another and moves from one place to another, it either gives off energy or absorbs energy. The sun is the driving force of the water cycle.

Water is a resource that cannot be created by man. The water cycle is very important to life on Earth. Water in the water cycle can exist as a solid, liquid, or gas. Water is constantly moving from one place to another through the processes of evaporation, precipitation, transpiration, condensation, and runoff. The water cycle describes the movement of water throughout Earth's surface, atmosphere, and underground.

Clipart collection water cycle