Water Cycle Vocab

Front 1

Absorption

Back 1

Removal of water from the soil by roots

(this process occurs due to gravity)

Front 2

Condensation

Back 2

Water changes from gas to liquid in the absence of heat (cooling). (Example: Water vapor cools, molecules slow down and condense on a particle to make clouds).

Front 3

Consumption

Back 3

The using up of a resource.

Front 4

Evaporation

Back 4

Water changes from liquid to a gas in the presence of heat less than that if the boiling point.

( Example: sun heats ocean, ocean water evaporates to become water vapor).

Front 5

Boiling

Back 5

The addition of heat to water that causes it to expand and the temperature to rise, until it reaches its boiling point. When more heat is added the liquid starts to vaporize (turn into steam).

Front 6

Excretion

Back 6

The process of eliminating or expelling waste matter.

Front 7

Glaciation

Back 7

Liquid water from Earth's surface freezes into large ice masses called glaciers. This occurs in the absence of heat.

Front 8

Infiltration

Back 8

Absorption of water by the soil

Front 9

Precipitation

Back 9

Condensed water gathers and falls from the sky in the absence of heat (cooling).

(Example: Condensed water in clouds gathers to fall as rain, which is one type of precipitation).

Front 10

Run-off

Back 10

Liquid water from precipitation moves over plants, animals, and trees to larger water sources. (Example: Melting snow moves down a mountain as liquid water into a small lake.) This occurs due to gravity.

Front 11

Sublimation

Back 11

The transition of a substance directly from the solid to the gas phase without passing through the intermediate liquid phase. An example of this is solid carbon without passing through the intermediate liquid phase. An example of this is solid carbon dioxide "dry ice", which sublimates (transforms from solid to gas) at room temperature.

Front 12

Transpiration

Back 12

Liquid water evaporates to a gas (water vapor) in the presence of heat in plants.

(Example: Plants take water in through roots and it transpires into water vapor through leaves on a summer day.)

Front 13

Vaporization

Back 13

When molecules change from a solid or liquid to a gas. This occurs in the presence of heat. (This includes: boiling, evaporation, and sublimation)

Front 14

Accumulation

Back 14

Process in which water pools in large bodies (oceans, seas, lakes, and rivers)