The Water Cycle for Adults and Advanced Students
Science Center Objects
Earth's water is always in movement, and the natural water cycle, also known as the hydrologic cycle, describes the continuous movement of water on, above, and below the surface of the Earth. Water is always changing states between liquid, vapor, and ice, with these processes happening in the blink of an eye and over millions of years.
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The Water Cycle for Adults and Advanced Students
The Water Cycle for Adults and Advanced Students
The links below will give you an in-depth explanation of the components of the natural water cycle, as well as to allow you to view and download water-cycle diagrams and illustrations (in over 60 languages!). These links are aimed more at high school students and adults, but we have an extensive set of water-cycle information aimed at younger students and kids, too.
Water cycle basics
Components of the water cycle
- Atmosphere
- Condensation
- Evaporation
- Evapotranspiration
- Freshwater lakes and rivers
- Groundwater flow
- Groundwater storage
- Ice and snow
- Infiltration
- Oceans
- Precipitation
- Snowmelt
- Springs
- Streamflow
- Sublimation
- Surface runoff
The Water Cycle for Schools and Kids
Download the water-cycle diagram
- Image version (JPG) - Adult and advanced students
- High quality PDF - Adult and advanced students
- Image version (JPG) - School-aged version
The water cycle in many languages
Versions for adults and advanced students:
- All 60+ languages
- The Water Cycle (English)
- El Ciclo del Agua (Spanish)
- ما هي دورة الماء؟ (Arabic)
- Il ciclo dell'acqua (Italian)
Versions for students and kids:
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Date published: June 28, 2018Status: CompletedGroundwater Flow and the Water Cycle
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. Water moves underground downward and sideways, in great quantities, due to gravity and pressure. Eventually it emerges back to the land surface, into rivers, and into the oceans to keep the water cycle going.
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Date published: June 18, 2018Status: CompletedGroundwater Storage and the Water Cycle
The ground stores huge amounts of water and it exists to some degree no matter where on Earth you are. Lucky for people, in many places the water exists in quantities and at depths that wells can be drilled into the water-bearing aquifers and withdrawn to server the many needs people have.
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Date published: June 12, 2018Status: CompletedStreamflow and the Water Cycle
What is streamflow? How do streams get their water? To learn about streamflow and its role in the water cycle, continue reading.
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Date published: June 12, 2018Status: CompletedSnowmelt Runoff and the Water Cycle
Perhaps you've never seen snow. Or, perhaps you built a snowman this very afternoon and perhaps you saw your snowman begin to melt. Regardless of your experience with snow and associated snowmelt, runoff from snowmelt is a major component of the global movement of water, possibly even if you live where it never snows.
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Date published: June 12, 2018Status: CompletedEvapotranspiration and the Water Cycle
Evapotranspiration can be defined as the sum of all forms of evaporation plus transpiration, but here at the Water Science School, we'll be defining it as the sum of evaporation from the land surface plus transpiration from plants.
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Date published: June 8, 2018Status: CompletedEvaporation and the Water Cycle
For the water cycle to work, water has to get from the Earth's surface back up into the skies so it can rain back down and ruin your parade or water your crops or yard. It is the invisible process of evaporation that changes liquid and frozen water into water-vapor gas, which then floats up into the skies to become clouds.
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Date published: June 8, 2018Status: CompletedThe Atmosphere and the Water Cycle
The atmosphere is the superhighway in the sky that moves water everywhere over the Earth. Water at the Earth's surface evaporates into water vapor which rises up into the sky to become part of a cloud which will float off with the winds, eventually releasing water back to Earth as precipitation.
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Date published: June 8, 2018Status: CompletedCondensation and the Water Cycle
The air is full of water, as water vapor, even if you can't see it. Condensation is the process of water vapor turning back into liquid water, with the best example being those big, fluffy clouds floating over your head. And when the water droplets in clouds combine, they become heavy enough to form raindrops to rain down onto your head.
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Date published: June 8, 2018Status: CompletedFreshwater (Lakes and Rivers) - The Water Cycle
Freshwater on the land surface is a vital part of the water cycle for everyday human life. On the landscape, freshwater is stored in rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and creeks and streams. Most of the water people use everyday comes from these sources of water on the land surface.
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Date published: June 8, 2018Status: CompletedInfiltration and the Water Cycle
You can't see it, but a large portion of the world's freshwater lies underground. It may all start as precipitation, but through infiltration and seepage, water soaks into the ground in vast amounts. Water in the ground keeps all plant life alive and serves peoples' needs, too.
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The Water Cycle for Schools and Kids
Learn About Water!
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have teamed up to create a water-cycle diagram for schools and kids. It is available in over 30 languages and also in an interactive version made for online
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Our interactive water-cycle diagram for schools and kids.
Our interactive diagram lets you to "mouse around" the water cycle and view explanations, pictures, and more online. It is available for three levels of students: