The Water Cycle

I am learning to inform my audience with a piece of explanation writing.

By Sarah

What is something that is around us everyday yet most people know nothing about? Yes, the Water Cycle or its scientific name the Hydrological Cycle. A cycle is a repetitive process where a set of steps is completed over and over again. Did you know water covers three-quarters of the earth’s surface? And 97 percent of that is saltwater! That leaves only 3 percent to be freshwater. However only 1 percent of that is accessible to humans! There are three main stages in the water cycle, Evaporation, Condensation and Precipitation.

First up is evaporation, evaporation is when the heat from the sun causes water on earth to turn into water vapour and rise up into the sky. Water vapour is when water gets heated by the sun and floats up into the air. Water vapour is actually invisible so when you see steam rising up from the kettle it is not water vapour, yet it is still tiny water droplets hanging in the air. The next step is all about the clouds.

Condensation, condensation is when the water vapour that rose into the air cools down and turns back into water again. Water is attracted to each other so it comes together to form a cloud. Condensation can also happen on earth, have you ever taken a can of fizzy drink out of the fridge on a hot day and seen tiny droplets on the outside? Well if you have then this is just another example of condensation. This happens because the inside of the can is cold and it is just the water vapour cooling on the side of your can. Time to open up your umbrella because the next step is… precipitation,

Precipitation is when the amount of the water droplets in the cloud gets too heavy and the water falls in a form of either rain, snow, sleet or hail.  It then collects in ponds, rivers, streams and oceans. After that the cycle begins all over again. Did you know every tiny water droplet that falls to earth is made up of millions of microscopic droplets?! If that doesn’t make you look up into the sky in amazement I don’t know what will!

To conclude the water cycle is a repetitive process with three main stages.  Evaporation, the process where a heat source is added to a liquid, such as the water in the water cycle turning into water vapour.  Condensation the process where the water cools and turns into a cloud and finally precipitation. Precipitation when the water falls straight back down to earth.This cycle has been recycling water for as long as there has been life on earth! Because all the water on earth has always been on earth. So next time you take a drink of water, take a moment to realise what an extraordinary journey your water has been on to reach your glass.