Brief Description
How water moves up into the sky and back down as precipitation, then repeats
How to Talk About This Term with Young Children
Water from the earth is heated by the sun and turns into water vapor through the process of evaporation. The water vapor rises into the sky and become clouds. When the water droplets that make up the clouds get too heavy, they fall back to the earth as precipitation. Some of that water will get evaporated back into the air to repeat the water cycle.
“The sun helps water go up, and the clouds help it come back down—again and again!”