Did you know the same water you drink today was probably drank by a dinosaur millions of years ago? How is that possible, you ask? Well, it’s because of the water cycle! The water cycle is the endless journey that all water takes to travel the world. There are 4 easy steps:

Step 1: Water collection: In this step, water collects in one place. You probably have seen this in the forms of lakes, oceans, pools, and even puddles and soil after a rainy day!

Step 2: Evaporation: The energy source of the water cycle is the sun! The sun’s heat causes the water from Step 1 to rise into the sky as water vapor to form clouds. Water vapor is simply water in gas form.

Step 3: Condensation: In this step, the water vapor in the clouds turns back into water (liquid) because of the cool temperatures in the sky.

Step 4: Precipitation: Imagine the clouds get filled with the liquid water after Step 3. Eventually, the clouds cannot hold any more liquid water and release this water in the form of rain, hail, or even snow!

The water that rains down from the sky from Step 4 eventually collects in places again, whether it be in oceans, lakes, pools, or the ground, so that the water cycle can start all over again!