Water is a solid, liquid, & gas.

71% of earth’s surface is water.

Our body is two-thirds water.

Fresh water – water that is not salty and has little or no taste, color, or smell.

Salt water – water that contains dissolved salts and other minerals.

97% of earth’s water is saltwater

Water Cycle – the continuous movement of water through the environment of the earth.

3 major processes:

◦ Evaporation

◦ Condensation

◦ Precipitation

Evaporation – water changes from liquid to vapor through heat energy from sun.

Condensation – water vapor in the atmosphere becomes a liquid – occurs as air cools.

Precipitation – water that falls from clouds: rain, snow, sleet, or hail.

Runoff – water from precipitation sinks into the soil or flows into streams or rivers.

85% of water that evaporates on earth is from the oceans.

Plants are part of water cycle – pull water up from ground, release into air from leaves.

When salt water evaporates, the salt is left behind.

Precipitation is fresh water.

Sing to the tune of Oh My Darling Clementine

Evaporation, Condensation,

Precipitation trickling down

Its called the water cycle

and it’s happening right now

Sing to the tune of She’ll be Coming Round the Mountain

Water travels in a circle yes it does.

Water travels in a circle yes it does.

It goes up as evaporation

Forms clouds as condensation

Then comes down as precipitation yes it does.

Divide: A ridge or continuous line of high land, from which water flows in different directions.

Drainage basin: (or watershed) is an area into which all of the water on one side of the divide flows.

Lakes and ponds form where water naturally collects in low parts of land.

Water can fill a lake in a couple of ways:

1. When land is below the level of underground water, the low land fills with water.

2. Can come from a stream or river, and can leave from a lake by a stream or river.

Turnover: The rising and sinking of cold and warm layers in a lake. Turnovers occur twice a year as the seasons change.

The water in a lake is not as still as it appears. The changing temperatures of the seasons affect the water and cause it to move within the lake in a yearly cycle.

Eutrophication: An increase of nutrients in a lake or pond.

A lake does not remain a lake forever. Through natural processes, (thousands of years) most lakes become meadows, fields, grass, etc. The activity of the life of a lake is based on nutrient levels (eutrophication).

2/3 of the Earth’s fresh water is frozen water covering land near the poles.

Glacier: Large mass of ice and snow that moves over land.

Two types of glaciers: (1) continental glaciers (cover huge land masses),

(2) valley glaciers (in mountains)

Iceberg: A mass of ice floating in the ocean.

Icebergs as tall as 150 ft. above sea level have been found (only about 1/8 can be seen above the surface!)

Most of the floating icebergs are below the water’s surface.

Water in an iceberg may have been frozen for 15,000 years.

Groundwater: Water held underground

Permeable: A substance that liquids can flow through. Ex: coffee filter, soil, sand and gravel.

Impermeable: A substance that liquids cannot flow through.

Ex: A drinking glass holds liquids because it is impermeable.

Clay is soft, but it is nearly impermeable.

Groundwater collects because gravity causes rainwater to sink into the soil. Water sinks though permeable ground until it reaches an impermeable layer.

Water table: The top of the area of groundwater that is saturated or completely filled with water. This is called the saturation zone.

Groundwater may collect in the spaces within soil, gravel and some kinds of rock.

An aquifer is an underground layer of permeable rock that contains water. Some lie deep under impermeable rock, and others lie just beneath the topsoil.

1. Groundwater is stored in the pore spaces of gravel and rock in a layer of permeable material.

2. A neighboring area of impermeable rock keeps the water from draining away.

3. A source of water refills the aquifer.

The ground acts like a giant filter. Stones and sand in the ground can filter out bacteria. It removes harmful chemicals and minerals. It keeps water cleaner and more ready to drink.

A spring is a flow of water from the ground at a place where the surface of the land dips below the water table.

A well is a hole in the ground that reaches down to the saturation zone- the wet region below the water table.

Most wells need a pump to draw up the water and are dug with motorized drills.

An artesian well does not need a pump. The water flows to the surface naturally because it is under pressure.

The depth of the water table can vary from season to season, depending on the amount of rainfall.

If water is used faster than it is replaced, wells may run dry causing the ground to settle and damage the environment.

Hot water deep underground that is like an enormous boiling pot. Water heats to the boiling point and then becomes hotter because the liquid is under great pressure from the surrounding rocks.

A geyser is a kind of hot spring.

71% of earth is seawater.

Earth formed 4.6 billion yrs ago.

Water vapor condensed making the oceans

71% of earth is seawater.

Earth formed 4.6 billion yrs ago.

Water vapor condensed making the oceans

Ocean water contains salts and gases:

Every 1000 grams of seawater contains 35 gms. of salt.

Salinity: measure of the amount of dissolved salt in water.

Where does the ocean get its salt? * Rocks and minerals – rain wash them

into the ocean. * Eruption of underwater volcanoes.

Salt is added and removed but oceans salinity has remained the same for 1.5 billion yrs.

Salt water has greater density than fresh water.

Density – measure of amount of matter packed into a given volume.

Some oceans saltier than others because of evaporation, warm climates, and shallow areas.

Some oceans are less salty – being diluted by fresh water, rivers, etc.

Ocean animals take in oxygen and give off carbon dioxide.

Oxygen and CO2 get mixed into the ocean from the air and plants and algae that live near the surface.

CO2 – building block of ocean animals shells.

Oceanographers – people who study the ocean.

Divide the ocean into 3 layers according to temperature.

*Surface Layer: about 300m. to surface - heated by sun, warmest layer, less dense.

*Thermocline: 700 to 300 m.

*Deep water: below 700m. – cold all the time, anywhere – temp. is barely above freezing.

Continental Shelf: flat or gently sloping land underwater that extends from edge to slope of the continent.

Continental Slope: land that drops down steeply at edge of shelf

Seamounts – underwater mountains. Midocean ridge – chain of mountains that run

through an ocean basin.

Sonar – a system that uses sound waves to measure distances and locate objects.

Ships aim waves at oceans bottom and measure time it takes to receive the echo:

1. Fast echo – bottom is shallow 2. Slow echo – bottom is deep

Satellite imaging – for mapping large areas of the Ocean: * Detect tiny bumps/dips in ocean

* Shape of ocean floor.