Water CycleFollow the water. Watch it come back around.
Where the water is

3D graphics are not available in this browser. This flat diagram, the lesson and the quiz still work.

The Sun strength slider is all you need. Everything here is optional.

Wind blows
Season

Temperature sets the snow line and whether rain or snow falls. Humidity slows evaporation and speeds condensation. Wind drives the clouds.

Soil

Plants add transpiration and help water soak in. Sand soaks, clay sheds. Pavement sends almost everything to runoff.

Tap a label in the scene for a plain-language definition. The small number is the rate compared with the starting scene.

View

Drag to orbit, scroll or pinch to zoom, right-drag to pan.

Appearance
Text size
Contrast
Graphics quality

Animation

Keys: Space plays or pauses, [ and ] change the Sun strength, S starts the steps, Left and Right arrows move through them, 1 to 9 jump to a step, T labels, W water budget, A arrows, G groundwater, arrow keys turn the view when the scene has focus, plus and minus zoom, R resets the view, Shift+R resets everything, L lesson, M this panel, D light or dark, P presentation, Esc closes panels.

The water cycle

What to try