homework on water cycle

What Is the Water Cycle?

Water can be found all over Earth in the ocean, on land and in the atmosphere. The water cycle is the path that all water follows as it moves around our planet.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Data source: NASA's Earth Observatory

On Earth, you can find water in all three states of matter: solid , liquid and gas . Liquid water is found in Earth’s oceans, rivers, lakes, streams—and even in the soil and underground. Solid ice is found in glaciers , snow, and at the North and South Poles . Water vapor—a gas—is found in Earth’s atmosphere.

How does water travel from a glacier to the ocean to a cloud? That’s where the water cycle comes in.

The Water Cycle

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The Sun’s heat causes glaciers and snow to melt into liquid water. This water goes into oceans, lakes and streams. Water from melting snow and ice also goes into the soil. There, it supplies water for plants and the groundwater that we drink.

Snow falling on a glacier during winter months usually replaces any water that melts away in the summer. However, due to Earth’s overall warming , most glaciers today are losing more ice than they regain, causing them to shrink over time.

How does water get into the atmosphere? There are two main ways this happens:

• Heat from the Sun causes water to evaporate from oceans, lakes and streams. Evaporation occurs when liquid water on Earth’s surface turns into water vapor in our atmosphere.
• Water from plants and trees also enters the atmosphere. This is called transpiration .

Warm water vapor rises up through Earth’s atmosphere. As the water vapor rises higher and higher, the cool air of the atmosphere causes the water vapor to turn back into liquid water, creating clouds. This process is called condensation .

When a cloud becomes full of liquid water, it falls from the sky as rain or snow—also known as precipitation . Rain and snow then fill lakes and streams, and the process starts all over again.

Clouds, like these over the savannah in Nairobi, Kenya, form when water vapor in the atmosphere condenses back into liquid water. Credit: Department of State

Why Do We Care About the Water Cycle?

We care about the water cycle because water is necessary for all living things. NASA satellites orbiting Earth right now are helping us to understand what is happening with water on our planet.

Water in the Soil

Humans need water to drink, and to water the plants that grow our food. NASA has a satellite called SMAP —short for Soil Moisture Active Passive —that measures how much water is in the top 2 inches (5 cm) of Earth’s soil . This can help us understand the relationship between water in the soil and severe weather conditions, such as droughts.

Water in the Atmosphere

NASA’s CloudSat mission studies water in our atmosphere in the form of clouds. CloudSat gathers information about clouds and how they play a role in Earth’s climate. Also, the international satellite called the Global Precipitation Measurement Mission (GPM) observes when, where and how much it rains and snows on Earth.

Water in the Oceans

As Earth’s climate becomes warmer, land ice at the North and South Poles starts melting. The water then flows into the ocean, causing sea level to rise. NASA’s Jason-3 mission—short for Joint Altimetry Satellite Oceanography Network-3 —orbits Earth collecting information about sea level and ocean temperature. This helps track how the ocean responds to Earth’s changing climate.

NASA is also tracking how Earth’s water moves all around our planet. This is the work of the GRACE-FO —or Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment-Follow On —mission. It tracks the movement of water from one month to the next, and can even measure changes in deep groundwater hundreds of feet below Earth’s surface.

NASA’s Aqua satellite also collects a large amount of information about Earth’s water cycle, including water in the oceans, clouds, sea ice, land ice and snow cover.

Related NASA Missions

Water Cycle Worksheets (7 free printables)

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Water cycle worksheets are an excellent educational tool for teaching children about the natural processes of water on Earth.

These free life cycle worksheets are designed to engage students in learning through interactive activities such as coloring, labeling, cutting and pasting, and playing matching memory games.

By incorporating new vocabulary words and their definitions, these worksheets not only enhance scientific knowledge but also build language skills.

These printables aim to make the concept of the water cycle accessible and fun for young learners.

Activities like matching vocabulary words to their correct meanings help reinforce understanding in a way that is both educational and enjoyable.

Through hands-on experiences, children can visually connect with the stages of the water cycle. Including evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and collection, fostering a deeper appreciation and curiosity for the environment around them.

**There may be affiliate links in this post. You can read my full disclosure at the bottom of the page.**

Table of Contents

Let’s learn about the water cycle

Discover the wonders of the water cycle with our engaging and interactive worksheets.

These free printable science worksheets are perfect for both schools and homeschooling, and even better it is a no-preparation download.

Designed for children in grades 1-3, these free resources are an excellent way to introduce them to the fascinating world of rain and the water cycle.

Not only will they learn about the different stages of the water cycle, but we’ve also included a fun water cycle game to wrap up the lesson.

Whether you’re a teacher looking for classroom materials or a homeschooling parent, these printable science worksheets require no preparation and are readily available for download.

Supplies needed:

• cardstock  (normal paper will work, but you might be able to see the images through it)
• paper cutter  or scissors
• coloring pens and writing pens or pencils
• laminator  (optional)

Water cycle worksheets for kids

Download the water cycle worksheets below. There are 7 pages included and they will print out in landscape. Make sure to check the printer settings.

The first page is all about the water cycle. This will print on 3 pages. The first page can be used as a poster, or just to add to the child’s folder.

The second page is exactly the same but will print in black and white so the children can color it in.

The third and fourth pages are the same as 1 and 2 but without the descriptions. One is black and white and can be colored and the second is in color.

Younger kids will enjoy our weather worksheets for kindergarten to use with this unit study too.

The water cycle coloring page is a great way for younger students to see the water cycle as they color it in.

In the next worksheet, the children will need to add the words to the water cycle, the missing words are: precipitation, evaporation, transpiration, run off, accumulation, and infiltration.

The next worksheet needs to be cut out and the children will have to add all of the elements of the water cycle with no prompts.

This is much harder than the previous worksheets, and a great activity to do at the end to see if the children have understood the process.

Make sure to add some hands-on activities with these fun water cycle experiments .

What is accumulation?

Accumulation in the water cycle refers to the process where water gathers or collects in large bodies, like oceans, rivers, lakes, glaciers, and aquifers, after falling as precipitation.

This is a key part of the cycle, linking back to evaporation and transpiration, continuing the movement of water through the Earth’s system.

What is infiltration?

Infiltration is when water on the ground surface enters the soil. It’s a crucial step in the water cycle, allowing water to move through the soil and recharge groundwater aquifers.

What is transpiration?

Transpiration is the process by which moisture is carried from plants to the atmosphere. Through it, water absorbed by plant roots is evaporated into the atmosphere from plant surfaces, mainly leaves.

This contributes to the return of water vapor to the air, linking the soil and plant water content with atmospheric processes.

Check out even more water cycle activities for kids !

What is runoff?

Runoff in the water cycle is water that flows over the land’s surface to bodies of water like rivers, lakes, and oceans. This happens when soil is saturated, frozen, or impermeable, preventing infiltration.

Runoff can carry nutrients, sediments, and pollutants, significantly influencing water quality and ecosystem health. It’s a key process for transporting water from land to water bodies, linking terrestrial and aquatic environments.

Labeling the water cycle worksheet answers

Match the description of the water cycle to the name.

• Infiltration: The process of water entry into the soil.
• Precipitation: Water that falls from the earth’s atmosphere to the earth’s surface.
• Evaporation: The process that changes liquid water to water vapor.
• Condensation: The process where water vapor in the air is changed to liquid.
• Accumulation: The collection of water into lakes, rivers, and oceans.
• Runoff: Water flows over the earth as surface water rather than absorbed into the earth or vapor.
• Transpiration: When plants take up water from the soil and release water vapor into the air from their leaves.

Water cycle matching game

Learning shouldn’t be boring, when all the worksheets have been completed have a bit of fun with this water cycle matching game. Perfect for kids of all ages, and can be played with only 1 player if required.

The final worksheet is a fun water cycle matching game that the children can play after they have done their work.

You will need to print the pages twice, so you can match the images.

We like to decorate the back of the images. So cut around the border at the edge so you are just left with the 12 images. Then just grab your  coloring pens  (these are the ones we love and use all the time) and have fun.

When you have printed the 2 pages you will need to cut out all of the different images. I prefer to use a  paper cutter  as it’s easier, quicker, and more accurate, but scissors will work too.

Now you will have two sets of 12 images.

Shuffle them up and lay them on the table randomly on the table.

If you are placing them in rows I find 4 rows with 6 images each works best.

Playing the game is simple. The children can either play on their own and turn over 2 images at a time. Or you can take it in turns to find a pair of images. If it is a match you can either remove them from the game and place them in front of you or leave them turned over face up.

The winner is the person who creates the most matches.

Water cycle books for kids

We always love adding books to all of our worksheets and these are the best water cycle books we could find that supplement these free worksheets really well.

• Water cycles is an excellent book. Not only does it talk in detail about the water cycle but also has information about some of the most popular animals that live in the water.
• The Great Big Water Cycle Adventure is a beautifully illustrated picture book.
• National Geographic book on Water is an easy-to-read book helping children understand the water cycle.
• Books about weather for preschoolers

Weather science labs is another great addition to these free worksheets with 20 experiments and projects to do all relating to the weather.

WANT ALL OUR LIFE CYCLE WORKSHEETS IN ONE PLACE?

Tips for downloading the free files.

Below you will see a large sign-up box where you need to add your name and email address, and press I NEED THIS NOW!

Within minutes you will be sent the free PDF directly to your email address, so you can print it out and start using it immediately.

Sometimes emails get a little wonky, so if you can’t see it, please check your spam folder where I am sure it is hiding.

Download your free water cycle printables

If you are running short on time you can download all of our  life cycle worksheets . There are 247 pages over 23 different life cycles.

Make sure you choose the correct paper size and click on the shrink to fit button. All of our free printables for kids work better when printed on  cardstock  (this is the one we use and love.)

Last Updated on 20 April 2024 by homeschoolof1

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7 Amazing Ideas for Teaching the Water Cycle

The water cycle is the process by which water evaporates from the Earth’s surface, rises into the atmosphere, and falls back down to the surface as precipitation.

In this post, we explore 7 fun and engaging ideas for teaching kids about the water cycle. From hands-on investigations and activities to stations and task cards, these ideas will help kids learn about the water cycle in a meaningful and interactive way.

1. Observe a Water Cycle Baggie

This idea is an oldie, but a goodie. 

It’s important for students to understand how the Sun and ocean interact in the water cycle. Water at the surface of the ocean evaporates and rises due to energy from the Sun. It becomes water vapor.

As the water vapor cools during condensation into liquid water, it gathers together in clouds. Then the liquid water falls as precipitation .

1. Draw the water cycle carefully on a baggie using a Sharpie. Don’t push too hard or your bag might rip!

Include the sun, a cloud, and the ocean. Also write the processes.

2. When you’re done writing, add some water to the bag, seal it shut, and tape it to the window.

3. Observe your water cycle baggie for a few days. You’ll see the evaporation and condensation right before your very eyes!

4. Be sure to have students record their observations and draw their water cycle baggies in their science notebooks!

2. Flip with a Water Cycle Flipbook

Need a NO PREP science review activity? Make a flip book to review the water cycle!

This flip book is easy to assemble and fun to create with students as they wrap up their learning.

Accompany this activity with a video from our friend at  Mad Garden Science  on YouTube.

See it on TPT: Water Cycle Flipbook

3. Weather and Water Stations

Study the water cycle alongside weather and climate with 9 easy prep station activities. This is a particularly great option if you’re short on time during your weather and water unit!

See it on TpT!  Weather and Water Stations

5. Dive Deep with the Clouds Phenomena-based Science Unit

Teach your students the details of cloud formation and how clouds can help us predict the weather with this full unit! 

You’ll  use a cloud window to observe the weather each day, make predictions about the weather based on cloud types, support a claim with evidence and reasoning, and even make a cloud in a jar!

See it on TpT!  Clouds and Weather Unit

6. Roll the Dice with a Water Cycle Cube Simulation

This activity is a simulation game in which students move through the water cycle as a drop of water.  The activity I used is no longer available but you can find something similar  here .

6. Assess with Water Cycle Task Cards

When it’s time to check for understanding, you’ll want to have some task cards on hand. I use two different sets– one for vocabulary and one with more rigorous questions for test prep.

See them on TpT! 

Water Cycle Vocabulary Task Cards

Water Cycle Test Prep Task Cards

7. Enrich with a Water Cycle Digital Choice Menu

Use as enrichment! This digital choice board is perfect for advanced students who crave new learning and want to dive a little deeper into the topic of study.

The work is done for you to just assign and go! 

See it on TPT:   Water Cycle Digital Choice Menu

Top Teaching Tools

Try out these top teaching tools to help your students learn all about the water cycle!

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• Read more about: 4th Grade , 5th Grade , Earth Science

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5 thoughts on “7 amazing ideas for teaching the water cycle”.

Thanks for sharing these great ideas! I always like to follow up my version of the water cycle simulation by having my students (2nd grade) create a comic strip that follows their “journey” as they share these stories they see the patterns. I love teaching the water cycle, so many great experiences!

Love the comic strip!

Thanks for sharing the Ocean Notebook freebie!

Love the Water Cycle simulation cubes idea, but where do you find the cubes?

• Pingback: Water/Water cycle | Pearltrees

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Hi, I'm Ari!

As a new teacher, I struggled to plan engaging, rigorous science lessons. Throughout my time teaching upper elementary and in my graduate studies, I discovered what worked well and developed science curriculum for busy teachers.  Now, teachers across the country use Science Penguin activities every single day in their classrooms!

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Water and the water cycle

What is water and what is the water cycle?

Water is vital for all living things. Animals drink water, while plants take water up through their roots.

Water never leaves the Earth, it simply moves around the ‘water cycle’. The water cycle follows the journey of water from oceans to clouds to rain to streams to rivers and back into the ocean. The water cycle involves the scientific processes of evaporation and condensation and is also known as the hydrologic cycle ('hydro’ means water in Greek).

Top 10 facts

• The water cycle is essential to life on our planet: without it there would be no plants or animals. Desert habitats , with little rain, are much more barren than other areas of the world.
• Humans are made up of about 75% water.
• The water cycle is powered by the Sun: heat makes water evaporate, before it cools and condenses and falls back to the ground.
• Water can exist in three forms: liquid (water), solid (ice) or gas (water vapour).
• Around two thirds of the world's water is in polar ice caps and glaciers.
• About 70% of he Earth is covered in water. An incredible 97% of Earth's water is in the oceans (this is salty water) and 2% is in the ice caps, leaving only 1% available for us to drink.
• There are underground reservoirs called aquifers. Some water in the ground may stay there for thousands of years.
• You might be drinking water that dinosaurs  drank! Because water is recycled and doesn’t leave the Earth or is formed all the water currently on our planet is the same water that has been there for millions of years.
• The Nile is 4132 mile long, making it the longest river in the world.
• Water can be used to create electricity through a hydro-electric power station.

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Did you know?

• Water leaving your body as urine or sweat is evaporated and recycled through the water cycle. The water in your wee and sweat is returned to the water cycle, while other parts (urea and salt for example) are left behind as they do not evaporate with the water.
• Beneath the ground is a water table. This is the level where the ground is saturated with water; the water table can rise or fall depending on the amount of rain that falls.
• When the ground becomes saturated with water it can cause flooding. The water that falls as rain no longer has anywhere to go as the ground is full of water so it stays on top. Many rivers and streams swell with water when this happens and can break their banks and flood as well.
• Frozen water can move and carve out valleys in the form of glaciers. Some of the ice in glaciers has been there for thousands of years and will only re-enter the water cycle is the ice melts.
• Hydroelectric power stations use the force of falling water to generate electricity. They are formed of a reservoir that is high up in a mountainous area, with the generators down below. Water is released and the kinetic energy in it is transformed into electrical energy.
• The longest someone can survive without water is about three days. We need water for lots of jobs in our bodies, such as digesting food. Water is also found in our immune systems and makes up a large part of our blood. Without water our bodies would stop working.
• Drinking water needs to be clean to prevent people from getting diseases. In the UK we have water treatment plants that remove all of the pollutants in water before it can become drinking water. The water has chemicals added to it and is filtered. Formal water treatments to create drinking water have only really been around for the past 100 years or so.

Look through the gallery below and see if you can spot the following:

• Water cycle diagram
• Transpiration
• Types of precipitation
• Water evaporating and leaving salt
• A droplet falling into water
• Ice in the Antarctic
• A glacier in a valley
• Hot springs
• Snow flakes
• Ladybower Reservoir in the Upper Derwent Valley in the Peak District National Park

Water is vital for life and humans need to drink it regularly to make sure we have enough in our bodies. When we don’t have enough water in our bodies it is called dehydration.

There are many places that water can be found. We call these ‘bodies of water’. Bodies of water include: oceans, seas, streams, rivers , lakes, ponds, wetlands, marshes, bays, harbours, coves, deltas, and even puddles! There are generally considered to be five main oceans: Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern and Arctic.

Water is never created or destroyed; it simply journeys through the water cycle being recycled each time. The water that we use today has been around for millions of years and the movement of water around our planet is vital to support life on Earth.

The water cycle takes water on a journey and is made up of six possible processes: condensation, infiltration, runoff, evaporation, precipitation, transpiration.

The heat from the sun causes water to turn into a gas known as water vapour. This process is called evaporation. When the sun turns water from plants and trees into water vapour the process is called transpiration.

When water cools down it forms a cloud. This process is called condensation. When a cloud becomes too heavy the water falls to the ground as precipitation. Precipitation can either take the form of rain, sleet, hail or snow.

When precipitation lands on the ground it seeps into the ground or runs off into drains and water ways. It ends up in streams and rivers and eventually returns to the oceans.

Not all water falls into streams, oceans and rivers. A lot of water is locked up in the polar ice caps.

There is evidence that the polar ice caps are gradually melting due to global warming. This will eventually cause the sea level to rise.

Words to know:

Water vapour – water in a gas form Ice – water in a solid form Ice cap – a large area (less than 50, 000km²) that is covered in ice. Condensation – the process of cooling water that turns it from a gas (water vapour) back into a liquid Infiltration – when water moves down through the ground Runoff – when water travels over the top of the ground and back into a stream, river or sea Evaporation – the process of heating water that turns it from a liquid into a gas (water vapour) Precipitation – water falling to the ground from a cloud. It can be in the form of rain, sleet, hail or snow. Transpiration – the process of water evaporating out of the leaf of a plant or tree. Ocean – a very large area of sea. There are usually considered to be five main oceans (Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern and Artic. River – A flow of water that leads to the sea. A river is a larger flow of water than a stream. Stream - A flow of water that usually leads into a river. A stream is a smaller flow of water than a river. Aquifer – an underground reservoir of water Reservoir – an area where water is stored Cloud – condensed water (water vapour) that is visible in the atmosphere Hydropower – the method of changing the kinetic energy from falling water into electrical energy.

Related Videos

Just for fun...

• Play the Natural Water Cycle game
• Download a water cycle colouring-in sheet
• Join Molly on the Journey of Water : try a water cyle interactive activity in the Severn Trent Education Zone (there are water activity sheets to complete, too)
• Make your own 3D model of the water cycle
• The Brainpop Water Cycle interactive game
• Nine online water cycle games to play
• Try your hand at running a city's water cycle and see how long it takes you to get the water from the reservoir to the ocean in an online game

Best books about the water cycle for kids

Find out more

• What is the water cycle ? Watch a BBC Bitesize animation, an introductory guide for KS1  and  KS2 students
• A complete introduction to the water cycle
• Find out more about all aspects of water , from glaciers to saline water and hydroelectricity
• Read the Met Office's kids' information about the water cycle
• Discover how electricity is formed at hydroelectric power stations
• Print out a child-friendly water cycle diagram  from the U.S. Geological Survey and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
• Steve Backshall follows the journey of water around the water cycle, from a rainy hilltop in Derbyshire to the North Sea
• The water cycle : the way Earth has been recycling water for over 4 billion years!
• NASA Kids water cycle information
• Download TheSchoolRun's water cycle worksheets: The water cycle , Make your own water cycle and Complete the water cycle
• A water cycle diagram available in beginner, intermediate or advanced levels of detail
• Download a water cycle factsheet

See for yourself

• Make a mini water cycle  in a bowl: step-by-step instructions
• See the water cycle in motion , step by step
• Watch a BBC clip on how water is treated in the UK before it is returned to the water cycle

Versions available:

• Intermediate

Interactive Water Cycle Diagram for Kids (Intermediate)

The water cycle describes how Earth's water is not only always changing forms, between liquid (rain), solid (ice), and gas (vapor), but also moving on, above, and in the Earth. This process is always happening everywhere.

The water in the air rises up high into the sky and becomes clouds, which float away looking for a picnic to rain on. The atmosphere is the superhighway in the sky that moves water everywhere over the Earth.

Condensation

Clouds are created in the same way. Why? Condensation happens because of temperature changes. As warmer air (containing water vapor, remember?) floats up into the sky, where it is cold, condensation happens and tiny liquid water particles form ... the clouds. Colder air cannot keep the water vapor as a gas as easily as warm air.

Evaporation

As usual, you can thank the sun for making evaporation work. The sun's energy breaks the bonds that hold liquid water's molecules together and turns them into water vapor gas. Thus, it makes sense that water evaporates more easily in hot conditions, such as in the desert, rather than outside on a cloudy winter day.

Fog contains very tiny liquid water particles, like a cloud, and floats, like a cloud. Actually, fog IS a cloud, but one that swirls around your feet instead of high in the sky. Fog forms when air containing invisible water vapor encounters cooler temperatures (here, next to the ground) and the water vapor condenses out into liquid water—the cloud.

In this picture, as the day warms the air next to the ground will warm, too, and the fog particles will again evaporate back into invisible water vapor.

Groundwater flow

Yes, water below your feet is moving all the time, but, no, if you have heard there are rivers flowing below ground, that is not true.

Groundwater flow. Relate to recharge a battery.

Groundwater

When you pour a glass of water on your yard, the water sinks (infiltrates) into the ground and gets back into being a vital part of the global water cycle.

Ice and snow

Ice and glaciers are part of the water cycle, even though the water moving in them changes very slowly. The amount of ice on the Earth goes up and down as the world's climate cools and warms over thousands of years.

Lucky for us we're now in a warmer phase of the Earth's history, but the last Ice Age was only 18,000 years ago. At that time, ice covered the northern part of North America .

Ice and glaciers are still around today, as this picture shows. In fact, most of the world's freshwater, about 68 percent, is locked up in ice, snow, and glaciers.

The oceans are, by far, the largest reservoir of water on earth—over 96% of all of Earth's water exists in the oceans.

Oceans are important to the water cycle because almost all the water that evaporates from liquid to water vapor (which forms clouds) comes from the oceans.

Plant uptake

Plants depend on water in the ground for their needs. Even when you sprinkle your garden with water to give it a drink, the plants want the water that soaks into the ground next to them, not from the water that lands on their leaves. Roots in the ground pull the water up into the plant to keep it healthy.

Precipitation

The amount of precipitation that falls is different all around the world. In deserts, such as in Chile, it may only rain one inch per year, while on some mountains in Hawaii and in India, it can rain more than 600 inches per year. That is almost 2 inches every day!

Precipitation is the "exit ramp" back to earth from the water-cycle superhighway in the sky that is moving clouds all around the globe.

Of course, plants, animals, and people interact with rivers, as all kinds of life seems to thrive around rivers. If you look at a map of the world, you see how people naturally build their cities next to rivers .

And, as this satellite picture of the Nile River in Egypt, you can often pick out the rivers because of the green growth growing along them.

Even though some rainfall soaks into the ground, most of it flows over the land surface, going downhill. This runoff water reaches creeks, rivers, lakes, and the oceans, keeping the water cycle going.

With the water cycle, seepage occurs when precipitation falls on the landscape and starts to soak into the ground. The "Why?" this happens is simply gravity. But, seepage doesn't just happen downward! Water seeps upwards and sideways, too, from the ground into the bottom of rivers, lakes, and the oceans. Some of the water you see flowing in a river has come up from the ground.

Just like the flowers waiting for springtime to bloom, this snow is waiting for warmer temperatures so it can melt and get back into the ever-moving water cycle. If a lot of snowmelt happens in the spring, watch out downstream, because flooding can occur from the melting of months of accumulated snow.

The sun's heat allows liquid water to evaporate into water vapor, which in the main way water gets from the land surface back into the sky.

The sun also participates in moving water around the Earth by being the reason winds exist. The winds move clouds and the weather all over the place; all of this mixing up and moving is an important part of the water cycle.

Evapotranspiration (Evaporation and transpiration)

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• Water Cycle

Weather & Climate

Societal applications, exploring the water cycle.

This lesson plan is intended for teachers to use with their upper elementary and middle school students to learn about the water cycle and the forces that drive it. The emphasis in this lesson will be on having students understand the processes that take place in moving water through Earth’s system. 

Download Resources:

(right-click -> save as)

• Teacher Guide (pdf)
• Teacher Demonstration Directions  (pdf)
• Student Capture Sheet (pdf)
• Presentation (ppt)
• Pre and Post Assessment (pdf)

Please Contact Us to Receive the Answer Keys (please note, we can only provide the answer keys for "GPM Original" lesson plans)

Water Cycle

Water Cycle introduces students to the continuous process water follows from evaporation to precipitation. Students will learn many terms related to the water cycle and be able to explain the process to others correctly. They will be able to recognize the different steps and put them in order.

In the “Options for Lesson” section of the worksheet, you will see some suggestions for additional or alternative things to do for the lesson. One suggestion is to have students work in pairs throughout the lesson as they learn about the water cycle. You could also have students present their 2D water cycle models to the class.

Description

Additional information, what our water cycle lesson plan includes.

Lesson Objectives and Overview: Water Cycle teaches students how water flows through a continuous process from evaporation to precipitation. Students will learn and be able to define the terms that relate to the steps of this process. By the end of the lesson, they will be able to explain the process to others correctly. This lesson is for students in 4th grade, 5th grade, and 6th grade.

Classroom Procedure

Every lesson plan provides you with a classroom procedure page that outlines a step-by-step guide to follow. You do not have to follow the guide exactly. The guide helps you organize the lesson and details when to hand out worksheets. It also lists information in the yellow box that you might find useful. You will find the lesson objectives, state standards, and number of class sessions the lesson should take to complete in this area. In addition, it describes the supplies you will need as well as what and how you need to prepare beforehand. For this lesson, you will need to supply plastic cups, water, ice cubes, paper towels, construction paper, markers, glue, and other supplies that students may need to make a 2D model of the water cycle. Before giving the lesson, you will also need to gather the plastic cups and fill them with water about 3/4 of the way.

Options for Lesson

There are several suggestions in the “Options for Lesson” section that you could incorporate into the lesson if you have time or want to extend or adjust parts of the lesson. Several of these options relate specifically to the task of creating a 2D model. You may want students to work in pairs throughout the lesson, or just for the 2D model portion. Another idea is to let students present their models to the class. As an alternative idea, students could use PowerPoint or another slide deck software to present models of the water cycle.

Teacher Notes

The paragraph on the teacher notes page provides a little extra information for the lesson as you prepare. It suggests including hands-on activities whenever possible, such as showing a how a plant transpires over a period of time. You can use the blank lines on this page to write down ideas or thoughts you have as you read through the lesson document.

WATER CYCLE LESSON PLAN CONTENT PAGES

The water cycle.

The Water Cycle lesson plan contains two pages of content. The first page describes how the water people drink today could be millions of years old. The reason for this phenomenon is that the water on the Earth that everyone and everything uses has existed since the beginning of time. For instance, the rain falling from the sky may one day be the water we drink a few weeks later. This is possible because of the water cycle, which basically recycles water in a continuous cycle.

The lesson provides a diagram that roughly shows the different steps of the cycle. It shows clouds with falling rain and snow over some mountains. Rivers flow down from the mountain tops and into a lake or ocean. It also displays how water on the ground seeps through the Earth’s surface and eventually deposits into surface water sources, such as the ocean.

To illustrate evaporation, the diagram shows white circles in the air with arrows and a label signifying the upward direction. It does not outline the cycle exactly. Instead, it provides arrows to represent that snow and rain fall down, groundwater flows into a water source, and water vapor rises into the atmosphere.

Steps of the Cycle

Below the diagram, the lesson explains the four steps of the water cycle in detail. The first step is evaporation. Evaporation occurs when the sun heats up the waters of oceans, lakes, and other bodies of water. The heat turns the water into a gas, also called water vapor. The vapor then rises into the air (evaporates). This process doesn’t just happen for large bodies of water. Students will learn that even an open container of water inside a house will eventually evaporate.

Transpiration is the next step. It is the process by which plants lose water in the form of water vapor. It is similar to evaporation because it also moves water vapor into the air, except that the source is plants instead of water bodies. Transpiration occurs continuously as plants grow and use up the water that passes through the roots, later releasing it into the air again.

Students will then learn about condensation, the third step of the cycle. Condensation occurs when water vapor in the air gets cold and changes back into a liquid. Clouds actually form during condensation, and when they fill up too much with the moisture in the atmosphere, it rains. One example of how condensation works is what happens to a bathroom mirror after a hot shower. The steam (water vapor) from the shower is hot, but when it touches the cool mirror, it becomes liquid again. As a result, the mirror looks hazy from the moisture.

The last step is precipitation, which involves rain, snow, sleet, or hail falling to the ground from the clouds. It occurs when the air can no longer hold the water that has evaporated. The clouds are too heavy with moisture, so the evaporated water falls back to the Earth as precipitation.

After Precipitation

After it rains or water returns to Earth in another form during precipitation, it becomes ground water. Ground water is what plants and animals use for drinking. It can also be stored in aquifers, which are underground layers of rock that get saturated with water. That water can return to the surface through natural springs. In addition, people can pump the water to the surface.

When there is a large amount of precipitation, it runs over the soil and collects in oceans, lakes, or rivers. This excess water from storms, meltwater, or other sources is called runoff. In other words, runoff is the water that remains on the Earth’s surface rather than absorbing into the soil. The water from runoff evaporates, starting the whole cycle over again.

A fun fact that students will also learn is that sweating is an example of condensation in action. When the moisture drips off the skin, it is essentially like precipitation. The sweat begins to dry due to evaporation. However, since people aren’t plants, the body does not transpire. Instead, they perspire, which occurs when moisture escapes into the air. That means that the water a person sweats could some day become the water they drink!

The lesson provides another diagram that shows how plants transpire. The roots of the plant absorb water from the soil and into the root hairs. The water then travels through the plant’s stem and leaves. After it begins to transpire, the water starts to evaporate from the surface of the leaves and into the atmosphere once more.

Here is a list of the vocabulary words students will learn in this lesson plan:

• Evaporation: the process by which water returns to the atmosphere
• Transpiration: the process by which plants lose water in the form of water vapor
• Condensation: the process by which water vapor in the air becomes cold and changes back to a liquid
• Precipitation: the process by which water falls to the ground in the form of rain, snow, sleet, or hail
• Ground water: the water that soaks into the surface of the Earth after it rains, snows, or hails
• Aquifer: an underground layer of rock that saturates with water that can reach the surface again through natural springs or by pumping
• Runoff: the flow of excess water from storms, meltwater, or other sources that remains on the Earth’s surface

WATER CYCLE LESSON PLAN WORKSHEETS

The Water Cycle lesson plan includes three worksheets: a journal page, a rubric, and a homework assignment. The guidelines on the classroom procedure page describe when to hand out each assignment to the class.

OBJECT LESSON JOURNAL PAGE

You will use the journal pages before you distribute any of the content pages. The classroom procedure lists the steps to follow for an object lesson. The journal page is for students to answer questions that relate to the things they observe as you go through the object lesson. The classroom procedure page also provides you with the list of questions to ask. Students will write the questions you ask them in the boxes on the worksheet and write in their answers. There are a total of 10 questions.

2D MODEL RUBRIC PAGE

As part of the classroom procedure, students will create a 2D model of the water cycle. They will need to include labels, arrows, and other information so that it is clear for viewers to understand. The rubric page shows students what you will assess them on. For instance, does their model show all the steps of the cycle? Did students label the model correctly? Does the model clearly show multiple types of perspiration? There is space near the bottom of the rubric for you to provide comments.

WATER CYCLE HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT

For the homework assignment, students will complete a crossword puzzle. There are a total of 20 terms and clues for them to figure out.

Worksheet Answer Keys

The last page of this document is an answer key for the homework assignment. If you choose to administer the lesson pages to your students via PDF, you will need to save a new file that omits this page. Otherwise, you can simply print out the applicable pages and keep this as reference for yourself when grading assignments.

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How to Teach the Water Cycle to 5th Graders

It is water cycle time! The best part about the water cycle is all of the activities that come with it! We have so much fun when we are learn about the water cycle that we often forget we are learning! Let’s talk about some Water Cycle Activities!

Water Cycle Anchor Chart

If you’ve been following for a while, you know how much I LOVE anchor charts. (If not, check out this blog post !) I find them incredibly versatile and an important part of the learning process.

The Bag Experiment

This is an oldie but an absolute goodie!! I LOVE putting some water in a bag about 30% full, then adding blue dye to it. Before we put it on the wall (or add water) we label the parts of the water cycle. Then we hang it on the window. After a day or two, the water will “rain” inside the bag. It’s really cool to see the process and how the water moves through the process right before our very eyes!

Water Cycle Craft

This is not mine but we LOVE creating this together. This video will show the students how to make a 3D water cycle model!

Science Projects

I really love hosting science projects. These are quite fun and will be extremely helpful when my kids have a few minutes of “down time.” My kids have a fascination with working on science projects. I tend to give it to them as enrichment and then I let them work on it as morning work as well. The kids absolutely love working on it and learning about the water cycle by themselves.

Make the Water Cycle fun!!

Making things fun is always really hard! However, you know that if you can add a little (itty bit) of chaos to the normal day, you can make it insanely fun. The best part is that the kids will remember the topic or skills at hand.

Water Cycle Activities for 5th Grade

Interested in the science project? I can for sure help you with that. Head to my store to check out the awesome Water Cycle Science project that you can assign and go (or print and go)!

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11.1: The Hydrologic Cycle

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• Page ID 25557

• Steven Earle
• Vancover Island University via BCCampus

Water is constantly on the move. It is evaporated by solar energy from the oceans, lakes, streams, the surface of the land, and from plants (transpiration) (Figure 11.1.1). It is moved through the atmosphere by winds and condenses to form clouds of water droplets or ice crystals. In response to the pull of gravity it comes back down as rain or snow and then flows through streams, into lakes, and eventually back to the ocean. Water on the surface and in streams and lakes infiltrates the ground to become groundwater. Groundwater slowly moves through the surface materials and underlying bedrock. Some groundwater returns to streams and lakes, and some goes directly back to the oceans.

Even while it is moving around, water is stored in various reservoirs. The largest, by far, is the ocean, accounting for 97% of the total water volume at Earth’s surface. That water is salty. The remaining 3% is fresh water. Two-thirds of our fresh water is stored in ice and one-third is stored in the ground. The remaining fresh water—about 0.03% of the total—is stored in lakes, streams, vegetation, and the atmosphere. To put that in perspective, imagine putting all of Earth’s water into a 1 litre jug (Figure 11.1.2). We start with sea water, by almost filling the jug with 970 mL of water and 34 grams of salt (30 ml, 2 tablespoons, or 1/8th of a cup of salt). Then we add one regular-sized (roughly 20 mL) ice cube (representing glacial ice) and two teaspoons (roughly 10 mL) of groundwater. All of the fresh water that we see around us in lakes and streams and up in the sky can be represented by adding just three more drops from an eyedropper (about one-third of a millilitre).

The volumes of the reservoirs are listed in Table 11.1, along with the average residence time of water in each reservoir. A molecule of water that falls into or flows into the ocean will stay there for an average of about 3,100 years. During that time, it might get moved all around the Earth via surface currents, and even to the deep ocean by thermohaline circulation. It will eventually be returned to the atmosphere via evaporation. A molecule of water that gets frozen into snow and then falls on a glacier, stays there for as long as 16,000 years on average (although some deep Antarctic ice is over a million years old) before it flows out as meltwater or calves into the ocean.

Groundwater stays in aquifers for an average of 300 years, although some very deep groundwater is hundreds of thousands or even millions of years old. In freshwater lakes with flows in and out via rivers, the average residence time is 1 to 100 years, while in salt lakes, from which the only exit is likely to be by evaporation, the average residence time is up to 1000 years. Moisture in the soil typically stays there for less than a year. It is cycled out via plants, or seeps down to become groundwater. Water remains in a river for an average of 12 to 20 days before flowing into a lake or the ocean. Water is held in the atmosphere there for an average of only 8 days.

Although the proportion of Earth’s water that is in the atmosphere is tiny, the actual volume is significant. At any given time, there is the equivalent of approximately 13,000 cubic kilometres (km 3 ) of water in the atmosphere in the form of water vapour and water droplets in clouds. Water is evapotranspired from vegetation, and evaporated from the oceans and lakes at a rate of 1,580 km 3 per day, and just about exactly the same volume falls as rain and snow every day—over both the oceans and land. The precipitation that falls on land goes back to the ocean in the form of stream flow (117 km 3 /day) and groundwater flow (6 km 3 /day). Most of the rest of this chapter is about that 123 km 3 /day of stream and groundwater flow.

Surface water exists within lakes and ponds, as snow and ice, and within flowing streams. If we want to use surface water as a resource, we generally have to restrict ourselves to streams, and we have to be careful to leave enough of the stream water for the ecosystems (and other people) that depend on it. It is true that we can extract water from lakes, and many municipalities do that, but that can only be done to the extent that the lake is part of a stream system, and we cannot take more water from the lake than is being added by streams. If we do that on a long-term basis (more than 1 year) the lake level will start to drop and before too long the lake will not be viable as a water source.

Box 11.1 Water Resources

If you went to school in Canada, you almost certainly answered “Canada” because that’s what Canadian school children are taught. And it’s not surprising. Canada has more lakes and more lake surface area than any other country, so it looks like a country with lots of water (Figure 11.1.3). Indeed, for many decades Canadian school children have been unintentionally led to believe that Canada’s freshwater resources are so vast that they don’t need to be careful with water use.

But, as noted above, a water resource is only the fraction of the water in the water cycle that humans can use without causing harm somewhere else in the water cycle.

For example, rivers may have a great deal of water flow, but only a fraction can be removed from the stream for human purposes as the river must still have sufficient water for the ecosystem to be healthy. Lakes are the same. They have inflows and outflows, and only a fraction of the inflows could be diverted to a human water resource without affecting the lake. In terms of water supply for human use, a lake is only as good as the amount of water flowing through it. Once these restrictions are considered, Canada can still be understood to have lots of water, but in terms of water resources, it ranks 4th on this list. And that’s only part of the story. Water is only a really a resource for human use if it is near to humans. Most of the freshwater in Canada flows north into the Arctic Ocean or into Hudson Bay, while most Canadians live close to the border with the US, and so only a fraction of that fresh water is actually available. Canadians, like everyone else in the world, need to be very careful with their water supplies.

Media Attributions

• Figure 11.1.1 Steven Earle, CC BY SA 4.0 , after Water Cycle by Ingwik, CC BY SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/F...ycle_blank.svg
• Figure 11.1.2 Steven Earle, CC BY 4.0
• Figure 11.1.3 Modified by Steven Earle, from Mackenzie River with Heavy Sediment Load by Pierre Markuse, 2018, CC BY 2.0 via Flickr, https://www.flickr.com/photos/pierre...QFWJa5-2goyBLg

The Water Cycle

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Information on the Water Cycle

The Water Cycle (also known as the hydrologic cycle) is the journey water takes as it circulates from the land to the sky and back again.

Interactive Game Can you put all the labels in the right places?

The story of the Water Cycle

Why do we need the water cycle?

The Earth is covered by water, however, almost 97% is salt water found in the oceans. We can not drink salt water or use it for crops because of the salt content. We can remove salt from ocean water, but the process is very expensive.

How many processes make up the water cycle?

There are six important processes that make up the water cycle.

Condensation - the opposite of evaporation. Condensation occurs when a gas is changed into a liquid.

Infiltration - Infiltration is an important process where rain water soaks into the ground, through the soil and underlying rock layers.

Runoff - Much of the water that returns to Earth as precipitation runs off the surface of the land, and flows down hill into streams, rivers, ponds and lakes.

Evaporation - the process where a liquid, in this case water, changes from its liquid state to a gaseous state.

Precipitation - When the temperature and atmospheric pressure are right, the small droplets of water in clouds form larger droplets and precipitation occurs. The raindrops fall to Earth. 

Transpiration - As plants absorb water from the soil, the water moves from the roots through the stems to the leaves. Once the water reaches the leaves, some of it evaporates from the leaves, adding to the amount of water vapor in the air. This process of evaporation through plant leaves is called transpiration.

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Homework Zone Video: The Water Cycle

An animated teacher teaches his class about the "Water Cycle" using a short music video.

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Water Cycle Worksheets (Free PDF)

Get the free water cycle worksheets pdf and learn about the water cycle for kids..

These simple worksheets are the perfect way to introduce preschoolers and kindergarteners to the water cycle steps. You can talk with the children about precipitation, collection, evaporation and condensation.

The Free Water Cycle PDF includes three Water Cycle Diagrams to help explain the steps of the water cycle as well as two lesson check worksheets . The PDF also includes one page of simple Lesson notes.

Did you know that the water cycle is also known as the “ hydrologic cycle “. Read more on Nat Geo Kids .

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Grab your Free Water Cycle Worksheets now!

Keep reading for details about each page included in Free PDF. After you download your free worksheets, use the following books to add to your water cycle lesson plan:

Use these books to suppliment your Water Cycle lesson:

The Free Water Cycle Worksheets PDF includes:

• A Simple Water Cycle Diagram
• A Coloring Page
• A Detailed Water Cycle Diagram
• Two Lesson Check Worksheets

Water Cycle Lesson Plan Notes

Don’t miss out grab your free water cycle worksheets now just enter your info in the form on the bottom of the page..

Whether you are a parent, teacher, or homeschooler, you will love these  Free Water Cycle Worksheets. You can print as many as you like. Use them to introduce your children to the Water Cycle Steps. These are a great addition to a Weather Lesson plan and are perfect for preschool, kindergarten, daycare, or just for fun!

Simple Water Cycle Diagram

This simple diagram is perfect for introducing children to the steps of the water cycle. It uses images to represent the steps of Precipitation, Collection, Evaporation, and Condensation. Children can easily see how water moves through the hydrological cycle.

Water Cycle Coloring Page

The simple water cycle diagram also comes as a black and white coloring page. As you show the children the water cycle steps, they can color along!

As you show your children the water cycle diagram, you can discuss the Water Cycle Steps using the Free Lesson Plan notes.

The simple Lesson Plan defines the water cycle and terms found at each step of the cycle. It includes definitions for the terms: evaporation, water vapor, condensation, precipitation, collection, and the water cycle.

These notes match what is discussed in the following video.

This Video is an excellent resource for explaining the Water Cycle for Kids.

• First, you can watch the Water Cycle video with your children.
• Then, you can review the free lesson plan notes as you show the kids the simple water cycle diagram.
• Children can color along with you while you describe each step of the cycle.
• Finally, you can use the following worksheet as a lesson check, as seat work, or as homework.

Water Cycle Worksheet – Lesson Check and/or Homework

Use this worksheet as your lesson check. Children can cut out the images and paste them into the appropriate places in the water cycle. This is a very simple worksheet and correlates with the simple water cycle diagram.

If this worksheet is too simple, the PDF also includes a Water Cycle Diagram with the labeled steps. Check it out:

Water Cycle Diagram – Handout Including Terms

These water cycle worksheets, also included in the free PDF, have more detail. The first worksheet shows images of the water cycle steps with each section labeled. The labels include: evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and collection.

The second worksheet is exactly the same as the first except the children will need to provide the labels for each step. This handout includes a Water Cycle word bank. Children can either cut and paste the terms into the appropriate locations or they can write the words into the boxes.

These worksheets are the perfect introduction to the Water Cycle.

Just scroll to the bottom of the page to grab your Free Water Cycle Worksheets now.

Want More Preschool Activities:

• Water Cycle Craft
• Printable Water Cycle Bingo
• Rainbow Craft for Toddlers
• Paper Sun Craft

I hope you have tons of fun and learning with these free water cycle worksheets!

Download the Free Water Cycle For Kids Worksheets

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Want to remember this Water Cycle for Kids? Post these worksheets to your favorite Pinterest board!

Water Cycle for Kids – Free Water Cycle Worksheets

6 thoughts on “water cycle worksheets (free pdf)”.

This is awesome!

Thank you!! Have a wonderful day ~Jeannie

God! I’m so glad I discover this. Thank you for sharing this lovely works of yours. Please allow me to use it in my class. Thank you so much.

Hi Mycell, I sent you an email (I hope you got it).. YAY! I’m glad you found me too. Absolutely, you can use it in your class 🙂 If the PDF link doesnt come to your inbox right after you sign up, let me know and I’ll send it to you. Have a great week, Jeannie

Hello Jeannie,

I am unable to find the Water Cycle worksheets and craft but am very interested in using them.

Hi, The way the website works is that it sends every activity via email. But because they’re sent automatically, sometimes the emails get blocked altogether or sent to SPAM or PROMOTIONS folders. Please contact me at [email protected] and let me know which templates you want and I can send them to you directly. Hopefully, after you download a few crafts, the emails will start coming to your inbox. ~Jeannie

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Google’s ‘A Passage of Water’ Brings NASA’s Water Data to Life

The international Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite, as shown in this illustration, is the first global mission surveying Earth’s surface water. SWOT’s high-resolution data helps scientists measure how Earth’s bodies of water change over time.

This immersive experience leverages satellite data to illustrate how climate change is impacting Earth’s water cycle.

As part of the long-standing partnership between NASA and Google, NASA worked with Google Arts & Culture and artist Yiyun Kang to create an interactive digital experience around global freshwater resources titled “A Passage of Water.” This immersive experience leverages data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment ( GRACE) satellites and new high-resolution data from the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission to illustrate how climate change is impacting Earth’s water cycle.

A digital version of “A Passage of Water” will be released online on Thursday, Nov. 30, ahead of the beginning of the United Nations’ Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP 28) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Google also will host a physical installation of the visualization project in the Blue Zone at COP 28.

“NASA is the U.S. space agency that provides end-to-end research about our home planet, and it is our job to inform the world about what we learn,” said Kate Calvin, NASA’s chief scientist and senior climate advisor in Washington. “Highlighting our Earth science data in the installation of ‘A Passage of Water’ is a unique way to share information, in a digestible way, around the important connection between climate change and the Earth’s water cycle.”

For six decades, NASA has been collecting data on Earth’s land, water, air, and climate. This data is used to inform decision-makers on ways to mitigate, adapt and respond to climate change. All of NASA’s Earth science data is available for scientists and the public to access in a variety of ways.

“NASA studies our home planet and its interconnected systems more than any other planet in our universe,” said Karen St. Germain, director of NASA’s Earth Science Division. “‘A Passage of Water’ provides an opportunity to highlight the public availability of SWOT data and other NASA Earth science data to tell meaningful stories, improve awareness, and help everyday people who have to make real decisions in their homes, businesses, and communities.”

A collaboration between NASA and the French space agency CNES (Centre National d’Études Spatiales), SWOT is measuring the height of nearly all water on Earth’s surface, providing one of the most detailed, comprehensive views yet of the planet’s freshwater bodies. SWOT provides insights into how the ocean influences climate change and how a warming world affects lakes, rivers, and reservoirs.

“The detail that SWOT is providing on the world’s oceans and fresh water is game-changing. We’re only just getting started with respect to data from this satellite, and I’m looking forward to seeing where the information takes us,” said Ben Hamlington, a research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.

The Google project also uses data from the GRACE and GRACE Follow-On missions –the former is a joint effort between NASA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR), while the latter is a collaboration between NASA and the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ). GRACE tracked localized changes to Earth’s mass distribution, caused by phenomena including the movement of water across the planet from 2002 to 2017. GRACE-FO came online in 2018 and is currently in operation.

Get the Latest JPL News

As with GRACE before it, the GRACE-FO mission monitors changes in ice sheets and glaciers, near-surface and underground water storage, the amount of water in large lakes and rivers, as well as changes in sea level and ocean currents, providing an integrated view of how Earth’s water cycle and energy balance are evolving.

“A Passage of Water” is the most recent digital experience created under NASA’s Space Act Agreement with Google, with resulting content to be made widely available to the public free of charge on Google’s web platforms. This collaboration is part of a six-project agreement series that aims to share NASA’s content with audiences in new and engaging ways.

Learn more about SWOT, GRACE, GRACE-FO, and NASA’s Earth Science missions at:

https://science.nasa.gov/earth

To learn more about NASA Partnerships, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/partnerships

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Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology

Bioelectrochemically enhanced autotrophic feammox for ammonium removal via the fe( ii )/fe( iii ) cycle †.

* Corresponding authors

a MOE Key Laboratory of Pollution Processes and Environmental Criteria/Tianjin Engineering Center of Environmental Diagnosis and Contamination Remediation, Nankai University, No. 38 Tongyan Road, Jinnan District, Tianjin 300350, China E-mail: [email protected] Fax: +(86)22 23501117 Tel: +(86)18722292585

b School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, No. 92 Weijin Road, Nankai District, Tianjin 300072, China

c School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Tianjin Chengjian University, Tianjin 300384, P. R. China E-mail: [email protected]

Autotrophic anaerobic ammonium oxidation coupled to Fe( III ) reduction (Feammox) is a potential technology for removing ammonium from low-C/N wastewater, but it requires a continuous supply of Fe( III ) source. To reduce the supply, a microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) was employed to allow iron recycling in Feammox under different voltages (0.2 V, 0.6 V, and 1.0 V). Results showed that the optimal voltage was 0.6 V, with a maximum efficiency for ammonium oxidation of 71%. The ammonium oxidation rate achieved 2.5 ± 0.1 mg N L −1 per day, which was 3 times that of conventional Feammox. Cyclic voltammetry confirmed that ammonium oxidation and iron redox occurred on the anode. The bacterial population had a unique evolutionary direction at 0.6 V, with Geobacteraceae becoming the dominant family. Positive interactions between nitrogen-related bacteria and iron-related bacteria enhanced the autotrophic Feammox process. This study will further advance Feammox in the treatment of ammonium-containing wastewater.

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Bioelectrochemically enhanced autotrophic Feammox for ammonium removal via the Fe( II )/Fe( III ) cycle

T. Wang, J. Zhang, Z. Wang, Q. Zhao, Y. Wu, N. Li, X. Jiang and X. Wang, Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol. , 2024, Advance Article , DOI: 10.1039/D4EW00074A

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What caused Dubai floods? Experts cite climate change, not cloud seeding

• Medium Text

DID CLOUD SEEDING CAUSE THE STORM?

CAN'T CREATE CLOUDS FROM NOTHING

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Reporting by Alexander Cornwell; editing by Maha El Dahan and Alexandra Hudson

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