NGSS.3-PS2-1 / TEKS 3.6.B.3✓ California Department of Education (CDE) AlignedAcademic Year 2026–27
The Water Cycle: Evaporation, Condensation & Precipitation
Track how solar energy drives evaporation, vapor condenses into clouds, and water precipitates back to rivers and aquifers.
Why It Matters:Fundamental for municipal drinking water engineering, agricultural irrigation, and flood mitigation.
Curated Video Instruction
● Verified Active EmbedSTEP-BY-STEP PROOF
Worked Example
Trace a molecule of water from the ocean to a mountain snowpack and back:
1
Solar heating and evaporation
Liquid water + Heat -> Water vapor gas
Ocean water absorbs thermal solar energy and evaporates into the sky.
2
Cooling and condensation
Water vapor cools -> Cloud droplets/ice crystals
Rising vapor cools at higher altitude, forming clouds.
3
Precipitation and surface runoff
Snowfall on peaks -> Spring snowmelt -> River -> Ocean
Gravity pulls liquid runoff back into the ocean basin.
✓Verification Check
Verify: Total water on Earth remains constant across phases.
Evaporation + Transpiration
•
Condensation + Precipitation
⚠️ Common Pitfalls & Misconceptions
Thinking evaporated water disappears permanently
✗ Believing water that evaporates is destroyed✓ Water merely changes physical state from liquid to invisible vapor gas
The law of conservation of mass holds.
INTERACTIVE DRILLS
Guided Practice
Practice Question1 of 1
Step-by-step Feedback
What process turns liquid water into invisible water vapor gas?
MASTERY BENCHMARK
Official Assessment Quiz
Formal Assessment
The Water Cycle: Evaporation, Condensation & Precipitation
Passing Criteria:70% or higher
Question 1 of 1
What causes clouds to form in the sky?
Education to Career Navigation
Where This Lesson Leads
Hydrologists, Meteorologists, and Civil Engineers manage water resources worldwide.