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Science 4: Water Cycle 444 Views
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Description:
Apologies in advance if you came here really excited about a bicycle you can ride on water. We get that a lot. This video is really about the cycle of states that water goes through. Which is still pretty cool too. Check it out.
Transcript
- 00:04
[Coop and Dino singing]
- 00:13
When you're little, anything that's older than you can seem completely ancient. [Boy walking down the stairs]
- 00:17
That weird boxy TV in your basement?
- 00:19
Old.
- 00:20
Photos of your dad from when he was in high school?
Full Transcript
- 00:22
Super duper old. [Photo of boy's Dad stamped]
- 00:24
That jar of licorice that has been on your Grandma's coffee table since you can remember?
- 00:27
Probably about as old as the dinosaurs. [Dinosaurs in a field]
- 00:30
But if you really want to see something truly old, all you have to do is turn on the tap
- 00:33
in your house.
- 00:34
Water?
- 00:35
Now that's old. [Water coming out of a tap]
- 00:37
How old?
- 00:38
Well, seeing as all of the water on Earth is the same water that's been on Earth since
- 00:41
the beginning of time, we'd say it's pretty old.
- 00:45
Which…seems kind of confusing, right? [Man sitting drinking an espresso]
- 00:47
After all, water seems to be changing all the time – we drink it, it evaporates, it
- 00:51
rains, it freezes, we turn it into snowballs and slushies and apple juice... how can the
- 00:55
water we have today be the same water from billions of years ago? [Water pours into a magicians hat]
- 00:59
Magic, That's how.
- 01:00
…Just kidding!
- 01:01
It's science.
- 01:02
See, here's the thing: water is constantly changing forms, from a liquid to gas to solid
- 01:07
and back again.
- 01:08
But even in all those different forms, it never stops being water. [Coop discussing the different water forms]
- 01:12
After all, you could put on a clown costume, a cowboy costume, and a gorilla suit, and
- 01:16
you'd still be you.
- 01:17
All of this changing is referred to as the water cycle, and it has many different parts: [Dino teaching about the water cycle]
- 01:22
evaporation, condensation, precipitation, transpiration, run-off, and infiltration.
- 01:27
Huh, those last two make water sound like some sort of secret agent… [Man struggling to carry a large water bottle]
- 01:30
But that'd be ridiculous.
- 01:32
Even if water could infiltrate enemy territory, it wouldn't be able to tell us their secrets
- 01:36
afterwards.
- 01:37
…or could it…hm.
- 01:39
Someone should get the FBI on this… [Men standing in a room having a cup of water]
- 01:40
Anyway, while we call up the FBI, let's check out each step of the water cycle!
- 01:44
First up is evaporation, which occurs when water changes from a liquid to a gas. [Coop discussing evaporation]
- 01:49
Picture a puddle on the ground.
- 01:50
And then picture the hot sun above.
- 01:52
The solar energy from the sun causes the exposed water molecules from the puddle to turn into [Water turns into vapor]
- 01:57
water vapor, which rises up and forms clouds.
- 02:00
Nope, it's not something out of Harry Potter…it's an example of evaporation.
- 02:03
Next up is condensation, which is pretty much the exact opposite of evaporation.
- 02:08
That's because condensation is when water changes from a gas to a liquid. [Dino discussing condensation]
- 02:12
When the evaporated water molecules in clouds are cooled down enough to turn back into liquid
- 02:16
water droplets, then that's condensation. [Dark clouds and rain begins to fall]
- 02:19
And when that rain actually falls down from the clouds into the sky and back down to the
- 02:23
earth – whether it's as rain, snow, hail, or anything else - we call that precipitation.
- 02:27
Oops…sorry.
- 02:28
Should've told you to bring an umbrella to this video… [Man standing in a field and soaked by rain]
- 02:30
But here's one you probably haven't heard of before... transpiration.
- 02:34
Transpiration occurs when water is evaporated from plants.
- 02:38
In other words, when water goes into the plants roots, it slowly travels up through the plant, [Water travelling up through a plant]
- 02:43
hydrating everything as it goes.
- 02:44
Eventually, this water reaches small pores on the underside of the plants leaves, where
- 02:48
it turns into vapor and is released out into the air to be evaporated.
- 02:52
And that's transpiration!
- 02:54
We bet your folks don't even know about that one.
- 02:56
But before water can even get into the plants roots, it has to soak into the ground first. [Water soaking into the ground]
- 03:00
And thankfully, there's a word for that: it's called infiltration.
- 03:04
Which explains why the FBI hung up on us when we called…
- 03:07
And if rain water falls to the ground and doesn't go into the ground, but instead runs
- 03:11
off elsewhere?
- 03:12
We've got a word for that too: run-off. [Coop discussing run-off]
- 03:14
Super clever name, right?
- 03:16
If precipitation hits the ground and “runs off” into a lake, a river or even a stinky
- 03:20
sewer, then you've got yourself some run-off.
- 03:23
All of these different processes are constantly happening, and they all make up the water cycle.
- 03:27
And it's because of them that we can say that the water here on Earth is some of the oldest [Water vapor]
- 03:31
stuff around.
- 03:32
Yup, even older than those funky old bell-bottoms your dad still keeps around for some reason. [Dad dancing in the living room]
- 03:37
Hm…maybe we can call the FBI and see if they could make those disappear…
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