Evaporation is the name given to the process in which a liquid is converted to the gaseous state. Evaporation is a fundamental part of the water cycle and is constantly occurring throughout nature.

Water boils at 100 degrees, but it actually begins to evaporate at 0 degrees C; it just occurs extremely slowly. As the temperature increases, the rate of evaporation also increases.

Evaporation occurs most often in the oceans around the world. The oceans cover a vast majority of the Earth, from the poles to the Equator.

Water vapour in the air gets cold and changes back into liquid, forming clouds. This is called condensation.

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.

When water falls back to earth as precipitation, it may fall back in the oceans, lakes or rivers or it may end up on land.  When it ends up on land, it will either soak into the earth and become part of the “ground water” that plants and animals use to drink or it may run over the soil and collect in the oceans, lakes or rivers where the cycle starts all over again.