Earth science
The water cycle: follow one rainfall event
Follow rainfall through runoff, infiltration, evaporation, and transpiration, then test yourself with six explained practice questions.
By StudyNova AI · Updated
Original teaching example prepared for this guide and checked against the references below. Cover the answer, try each question, then use the explanation to check your reasoning.
What you will practise
- Distinguish evaporation, condensation, and precipitation.
- Explain how runoff and infiltration describe different paths after rain.
- Use a local rainfall scenario to connect several water-cycle processes.
Source lesson
The water cycle describes water moving among the atmosphere, Earth's surface, and the ground. It has many pathways and no single starting point. Evaporation changes liquid water into water vapor. Condensation changes water vapor into liquid droplets. Precipitation brings water from clouds to the surface as rain, snow, or other forms.
Imagine rain falling on a school garden and a nearby paved path. Some water travels across the surface as runoff. Some enters soil through infiltration. Water that enters soil can be held near roots, move deeper, or eventually return to the atmosphere. Infiltration is the entry into the ground; it does not mean every drop immediately reaches a deep aquifer.
After the rain, liquid water can evaporate from exposed surfaces. Plants take up water through their roots and release water vapor through transpiration. Evapotranspiration combines evaporation and transpiration. A useful explanation follows where the water moves and whether its physical state changes, rather than treating the cycle as a fixed sequence of four steps.
Practice questions
1. A puddle becomes smaller as liquid water changes into vapor. Which process is this?
Check the answer and explanation
Evaporation.
The key clue is the change from liquid to gas. The puddle water is moving into the atmosphere.
2. Water vapor changes into liquid droplets on the outside of a cold glass. Name the process.
Check the answer and explanation
Condensation.
The droplets come from vapor in the surrounding air changing into liquid. They do not have to leak through the glass.
3. Rainwater enters the garden soil. Is this runoff or infiltration?
Check the answer and explanation
Infiltration.
Entry into the ground identifies infiltration. Water traveling across the ground surface is runoff.
4. Which example best describes transpiration?
- Rain falling from a cloud
- Water flowing across a road
- A plant releasing water vapor through its leaves
- Water vapor becoming droplets on a glass
Check the answer and explanation
A plant releasing water vapor through its leaves.
Transpiration connects water taken up by a plant with water vapor released to the atmosphere.
5. True or false: all infiltrating rainwater immediately becomes deep groundwater.
Check the answer and explanation
False.
Some infiltrated water remains near the surface or in soil, where plants can use it. Entry into soil and recharge of a deep aquifer are different stages.
6. Why can two raindrops follow different routes after landing near the school?
Check the answer and explanation
One may enter the soil while another flows across a paved surface; water can also be stored, evaporate, or pass through plants.
The cycle has branching pathways. Surface conditions and the destination of each drop matter more than memorizing one fixed order.
Common mistakes to check
The water cycle always begins with evaporation from an ocean.
You can start tracing water at any location. A rainfall event is simply the starting point chosen for this example.
Condensation and precipitation mean the same thing.
Condensation describes a change from vapor to liquid. Precipitation describes water falling from clouds to Earth's surface.
References and further reading
The lesson and questions use original wording. Follow these references for a fuller explanation and check any wording your course uses differently.