Understand the Water Cycle

Have you ever wondered where rain comes from — and where it goes afterward? The same water travels around and around our planet in a never-ending loop called the water cycle. It has four main steps.

Step 1 — Evaporation

• The sun heats water in oceans, lakes, and rivers.
• The water turns into invisible water vapor (a gas) and rises up into the air.
• This is called evaporation — liquid water becomes a gas.

Step 2 — Condensation

• High up in the sky, the air is cold.
• The water vapor cools down and turns back into tiny water droplets, forming clouds.
• This is called condensation — gas turns back into liquid.

Step 3 — Precipitation

• Water droplets in clouds join together and get heavy.
• When they are too heavy to float, they fall back to Earth as rain, or as snow, sleet, or hail when the air is freezing cold.
• This is called precipitation.

Step 4 — Collection

• Rainwater collects in rivers, lakes, and oceans.
• Some soaks into the ground; some flows downhill.
• The water is now ready to be evaporated again — and the cycle starts over!