The Grand Adventure of the Water Cycle

There once was a water droplet named rain but, Rain wanted to be something different instead. She wanted to become a snowflake. So Rain went on a grand adventure.

Rain was a water droplet but wanted to become a Snowflake and called Lake River, home. She always heard rumors about other water droplets going up to the surface and then just suddenly disappearing.

Rain decided to brave the surface and she started going up towards the surface. As got closer to the surface, she started getting warmer and warmer, until it was hardly bearable but then she felt herself become lighter and able to move freely.

The event that just happened to Rain is called evaporation. This happens when energy from the sun or another heat source heats up the water to a certain temperature until it turns into a gas called water vapor! The picture on page 8 shows an example of evaporation using a heated pot full of water

She felt herself get pulled up into the clouds and immediately got excited, thinking that she may finally become a snowflake. She waited for what seemed to be days until she finally fell but as a rain drop.

There is a fancier word for when it rains, snows, and hails! The word is Precipitation!

She fell all the way onto a stream of water flowing down a mountain. This small stream of water is called a run-off. This process is shown anytime water runs downhill. So, there rain was, speeding down a small mountain and then she landed with a splash into a river that flows past her lake home. She couldn’t believe it! She was going right back to where she started, ut she wouldn’t give up!

She traveled through the river for a few more months until she got sucked sucked up by tree roots. The tree’s roots led her up to the leaves where she would stay there until she was transpired through the tree and back up into the clouds!

Transpiration is when a plant basically sweats out excess water and the water evaporates!

When she was in the clouds, she didn’t have to wait that long to fall. When she did fall finally she fell as a beautiful snowflake!

She drifted in the wind for a bit until she land on mountain top and chilled there for a while until she melted into a water droplet again. From there, the water cycle adventure repeats and more water droplets get opportunities to experience it!