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The SUN is the driving force of the water
cycle
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Water moving from a liquid to a gas
ENERGY PUT IN = HEATED UP

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Water moving from a gas to a liquid
ENERGY TAKEN OUT = COOLED DOWN

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Water condensing in a cloud and falling to the
Earth
ENERGY TAKEN OUT = COOLED DOWN
 Rain, snow, sleet, hail

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Plants and animals losing water vapor into
the atmosphere
ENERGY PUT IN = HEATED UP

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Water moving from a solid to a gas skipping
the liquid stage
ENERGY PUT IN = HEATED UP
Happens high in the mountains

Water flowing on the
surface of Earth to a
lower area
 Caused by gravity

Water soaking into the
ground from the surface
 Depends on how porous
the soil is

Any water stored below the surface of the
Earth

A Collection of groundwater storage

The top of the aquifer
 Changes in depth from
place to place

Occurs when the ground cannot absorb any
more water
 Too frozen or saturated
 Rains too much, too fast

There is the same amount of water on Earth
today as there was 1000 years ago

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Only 3% of all the water on Earth is
freshwater (97% is ocean water)
Water can dissolve more substances than any
other liquid, including sulfuric acid
30% of all freshwater is underground
The water found in lakes, streams, rivers,
swamps and ponds makes up only 0.3% of
the world’s fresh water
68% of all fresh water is trapped in glaciers
Approximately 70% of the human body is water
The average American uses 100 gallons of water
per day
 Approximately 400 billion gallons of water are
used in the United States daily
 Americans use more water each day by flushing
the toilet than showering or any other activity
 Europeans use 50% less water than Americans

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More than 25% of bottled water comes from
the same place that tap water comes from
It takes 6.5 years for an American household
to use the amount of water that it takes to fill
an Olympic swimming pool (660,000 gallons)
It takes 7.5 years for an American household
to use the amount of water that falls over
Niagara Falls in 1 minute (750,000 gallons)
http://www.allaboutwater.org/waterfacts.html