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Water is always on a journey. The same water goes from the sea up into the sky and back down again, over and over. We call this journey the water cycle.

The Sun warms the water in seas, lakes and puddles. Some of the water turns into an invisible gas called water vapour and floats up into the air. This is called evaporation.

High up in the sky the air is cooler. The water vapour cools down and turns back into tiny drops of water. Lots of tiny drops together make a cloud!

Inside the cloud, tiny drops join together and get bigger and heavier. When they are too heavy, they fall down as rain. When it is very cold, they can fall as snow or hail.

Experiment: A water cycle in a bag

1. Draw a sun, a cloud and some waves (the sea) on the bag with the marker.
2. Put a few spoonfuls of water in the bag. Add one drop of blue colouring if you like.
3. Close the bag tightly and tape it to a sunny window.
4. Look at the bag after a few hours, and again the next day. Where are the little drops now?

When?	What do you see at the top of the bag?	What do you see at the bottom?
At the start
After a few hours
The next day

Questions

1. Draw the water cycle: the sea, the Sun, a cloud and rain. Add arrows.

   🍎

2. Is a cloud made of tiny drops of water?

   yes / no

3. What did you see at the top of the bag? Why?

Sources for every fact on this sheet: echoesof.science/school/water-cycle/sources/

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