The Sun Powers the Water Cycle

Start with the diagram page and keep it out as a reference for the rest. Look for real examples together: a cold glass sweating, a puddle drying, steam on a mirror. Check each page with the answer key.

Read puddle drying data and match sun and gravity causes to effects. The sun's energy heats water so it evaporates. Gravity, the pull of Earth, brings rain and snow back down. The directions on the page read: Study the table and answer the questions. Then, write the letter of the effect next to each cause. The answer key shows every answer.

Yes, both. We made it for 4th Grade water cycle, and the page works the same whether it lands on a kitchen table or a center rotation. At home, most families go through it together and talk the answers out loud, and that talking is where most of the learning happens. In class it runs well as independent work while you pull a small group. Print one copy or thirty, whichever the day needs.

Evaporation: the sun heats water and it rises as water vapor. Condensation: the vapor cools into tiny drops that form clouds. Precipitation: water falls as rain, snow, sleet or hail. Collection: water gathers in oceans, lakes and rivers, and the cycle starts again.

Evaporation turns liquid water into water vapor, a gas, and heat speeds it up. Condensation is the reverse: vapor cools and turns back into drops, like the water on the outside of a cold glass.

The sun's energy heats water so it evaporates, and gravity pulls rain and snow back down to the ground. One sheet uses puddle drying times on sunny and cloudy days to show the sun's effect.

Yes. All five water cycle sheets have an answer key that shows every answer, including sample answers for the questions children explain in their own words.