What are hydrological cycles?

Water is always on the move, it’s like a dance that happens all over Earth, and we call this dance the hydrological cycle.

Imagine you're playing with a water balloon in your backyard. When you throw it up in the air, it goes high, then falls back down to your hands. That's kind of how water moves on our planet, up into the sky, then back down again.

When the sun warms up lakes, rivers, or even puddles from your shoes, water turns into vapor and floats up into the air, just like steam rising off a hot soup. This is called evaporation.

Up in the sky, these water vapors meet cooler air and turn back into tiny drops, this is condensation. When lots of drops come together, they make clouds. Then it’s time for precipitation, rain or snow falls down like the water balloon coming back to your hands.

This whole journey, from water in lakes, up to clouds, then falling as rain, is the hydrological cycle, and it's happening all over the world every day! Water is always on the move, it’s like a dance that happens all over Earth, and we call this dance the hydrological cycle.

Imagine you're playing with a water balloon in your backyard. When you throw it up in the air, it goes high, then falls back down to your hands. That's kind of how water moves on our planet, up into the sky, then back down again.