Fourth Grade
Worksheets
The Water Cycle
Have you ever thought about where the rain comes from? It falls from the sky and waters our crops. The rain fills our lakes and rivers. It gives us water to drink. But where does it come from? There is no water in space. The rain does not come from the sun, the moon, or the stars. All of the water that has ever been on Earth is the same water that we use today.
The Earth uses the same water over and over again. It does this through the water cycle. First, water from the ground moves into the air. This is called evaporation. Liquid water is heated and turns into water vapor. If the water is dirty, the dirt will stay on the ground. The water vapor is made up of clean water. This is one way that the water cycle keeps our water clean. Next, the water vapor mixes with the air and moves up into the sky. This is the first part of the water cycle.
The next part of the water cycle is called condensation. As the water vapor moves farther and farther up in the sky, it cools down. When it cools down, it turns back into water. When water vapor in the sky turns into water, it forms a cloud. A cloud is a group of very small drops of water. The drops are so small that they do not fall to the ground. The cloud gets bigger and bigger as more water vapor condenses in the cloud. Soon the drops are too big to remain in the cloud.
