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Read the
following information then respond to the questions relating to the Water
Cycle.
WATER CYCLE
Lakes, streams, rivers, and oceans
cover Earth.
Water circulates continuously between the Earth's surface and the atmosphere (the
envelope of air surrounding the Earth).
Water on the Earth's
surface is heated by the sun and evaporates.
In other words, it changes from a
liquid into a gas, or vapor.
The water vapor then rises up into the air.
In the upper atmosphere, water
vapor cools and condenses into liquid droplets.
It is these droplets that form
clouds.
Eventually, the droplets fall back to the surface of the Earth as
precipitation -- rain, snow, sleet, or hail.
Most precipitation falls directly
back into the oceans, lakes, rivers, and streams.
Some of the rest falls on the
surface of the land and then runs off into these bodies of water.
In either case, water that
evaporates into the air returns to the surface of the Earth, and the cycle repeats
itself.
Not all water goes directly back into the Earth's bodies of
water.
Some is taken in by living things and later returned to the nonliving part of the
environment.
For example, plants take in liquid water through their roots and release some water
vapor through their leaves.
Animals drink water, but they also give water back to the environment
when they breathe and in their wastes.
Explain what is happening in the Water Cycle.
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