The Water Cycle
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This National Science Foundation video uses animation, graphics, and video clips to illustrate and explain each of the “flow” and “storage” processes in the Hydrologic Cycle, more commonly known as the Water Cycle: precipitation, interception, runoff, infiltration, percolation, groundwater discharge, evaporation, transpiration, evapotranspiration, and condensation..
Understanding the Graph
In the first bar, notice how only 2.5% of Earth’s water is freshwater – the amount used globally.
The middle bar above shows the breakdown of freshwater. Almost all of it is locked up in ice and in the ground. Only a little more than 1.2% of all freshwater is surface water, which serves most of life’s needs.
The right bar above shows the breakdown of surface freshwater. Most of this water is locked up in ice, and another 20.9% is found in lakes. Rivers make up 0.49% of surface freshwater. Although rivers account for only a small amount of freshwater, this is where humans get a large portion of their water from.
Where we get our Fresh Water
Where we get our Fresh Water
TED-Ed: Fresh water accounts for only 2.5% of Earth’s water, yet it is vital for human civilization. What are our sources of fresh water? In the first of a two part series on fresh water, Christiana Z. Peppard breaks the numbers down and discusses who is using it and to what ends. View Lesson: Watch-Think-Dig Deeper
Project Wet – The Role of Water in Our Lives – Water Cycle Game
Project Wet – The Role of Water in Our Lives – Water Cycle Game
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