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A Rainy Day:
Drip. Plop. Splash. It's time to play in the rain! Hop in a puddle. Twirl your umbrella. Watch a raindrop dangle from the tip of your nose.
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Where did this raindrop come from? Where will it go? How did the rain get in the sky in the first place?
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Water All Around:
Around and around, the raindrop traveled over Earth.
Up and down, it went from the ground into the sky
and back again. Its amazing journey is called the
water cycle. Let's follow the rain on its exciting water ride.
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Where Does Rain Go?
Splat! A raindrop hits the ground. What happens next? The water may soak the soil. Deep in the earth, it is stored as groundwater. Slowly, slowly, the groundwater seeps up into lakes, rivers, and streams.
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Watch your step!
Rainwater makes small
rivers along city streets.
It rushes down drains
and into tunnels called
storm sewers. The storm
sewers may carry the
water to a nearby lake
or river.
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Other raindrops stay above ground. They run downhill
until they pour into a creek, stream, river, or lake.
Then the raindrops just keep on going.
The water continues flowing down until it
mixes into salty oceans.
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Deep Oceans
Churning, swirling oceans store almost all
the planet's water. But ocean water
does not always stay there.
Rays from the hot sun warm
the ocean's surface. The
heat makes something
mysterious happen.
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Into the Air
The ocean water changes form! It no longer is a liquid
you can spill and splash. It evaporates.
The water becomes part of the
invisible air around you.
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This new form of water
is called water vapor.
Water vapor rises high
into the air. The air grows
colder miles up in the sky.
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Clouds Gather
The cold air makes another mysterious thing
happen. The water vapor condenses. It changes
back into liquid water. At first, the tiny specs of
water are too small to see. But the tiny droplets
start gathering together. They form clouds that
make shapes in the sky.
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The clouds can travel hundreds of miles while
they play and dance high above Earth.
The droplets in the cloud grow heavier
and heavier. The air can no longer
hold them up. The clouds break open.
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Rain and Snow
On warm days, rain drizzles or pours from the sky.
In the cold of winter, snow may drift
down and blanket the ground.
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Over and Over Again
Look out your window. Can you see clouds
in the sky? Soon raindrops may fall back
to Earth. The water cycle will start all
over again.
