G5 The Water Cycle & Earth’s Spheres – 01

Did you ever think about the water you drink, maybe where it came from or how old it is? Maybe you just opened a new bottle of water, or you just filled your glass from the faucet. In both cases, you are drinking water that is older than you can possibly imagine. It’s true! Each drop of water in your glass or bottle could be billions of years old. How is that even possible? Simple! Water is recycled through a process called the water cycle.

The majority of Earth’s surface is covered by water. It is found from the equator to the poles, in what is referred to as the hydrosphere. The hydrosphere contains all the waters on Earth’s surface, such as lakes and seas. Water can be found in in many forms, from ice to a gas. You have learned that water can change its form, or state, based on its temperature.

In colder regions, water can exist as ice in glaciers on land or as frozen sea water. Frozen water on Earth’s surface is often associated with Earth’s cryosphere. The cryosphere includes all the water on Earth’s surface where water is in solid form, including sea ice, lake ice, river ice, snow cover, glaciers, ice caps, ice sheets, and frozen ground (which includes permafrost). It can get a little confusing because of the wide overlap with the hydrosphere.