University Oran1 Ahmed Ben BELLA

Faculty of science of nature and life

Department of biology
Environmental monitoring network

The water cycle

Presented by : Lardja Nesrine.

Proposed by: Pr. Merzoug.D
 What Is the Water Cycle?

The water cycle is a way that water moves all around

the Earth. It never stops, it does not have a
beginning or an end. It's like a big circle!

Did you know?

 The water cycle is also known as the “hydrologic cycle”

 Earth has been recycling water for over 4 billion years!
 On Earth, we can find water in all three states of matter: solid, liquid and gas. Liquid
water is found in Earth’s oceans, rivers, lakes, streams. Solid ice is found in glaciers,
snow, and at the North and South Poles. Water vapor—a gas—is found in Earth’s
atmosphere.
The water on Earth moves around through stages that are the power behind the water
cycle

What are these stages?

 Stages of the Water Cycle
1-Evaporation and Transpiration: 
The sun is probably the most important part of the water cycle. Energy from the sun
heats the Earth’s surface causing the water temperature to rise. Some of the water leaves
its liquid form in lakes, oceans, and other water sources, and turns into a vapor/gas form
in the air, or atmosphere. This process is called evaporation. 
The water in plants and trees can also be lost to the atmosphere through their leaves.
This process is called transpiration.
 2-Condensation:
 Condensation is sort of the opposite
of evaporation. When liquid water
turns into vapor, it usually rises high
into the sky. Because of the cold air up
there, it eventually condenses, or turns
back into liquid in the form of clouds.
So clouds are just floating water!

 Condensation can also be seen when you

pour yourself an ice cold glass of water on a
hot summer day. After a few minutes of being
in the hot air, the outside of the glass will start
to collect water droplets. This water did not
come from your glass, but from water vapor
that was floating around in the air. It turned
back into a liquid form due to the glass being
colder than the surrounding air. 
 3-Precipitation:
Precipitation occurs when so much
water has condensed that the air
cannot hold it anymore. The clouds
get heavy and water falls back to the
earth in the form of rain, hail, sleet
or snow. Rain and snow then fill
lakes and streams.

4-Collection:
This is when water that falls from the
clouds as rain, snow, hail or sleet,
collects in the oceans, rivers, lakes,
streams. Most will infiltrate the ground
and will collect as underground water,
and the process starts all over again.