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Outcome: Explain that evaporation can separate the water from the salt in salt water. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Grade level: K-4 Theme: water cycle Activity: http://aquarius.nasa.gov/evap_invest.html Big Idea Water can "disappear" or evaporate into the air.
Key Concepts Evaporation occurs when a liquid is changed into a gas.
Rate of evaporation increases when the temperature of a liquid is increased.
Water moves around our planet in the water cycle.
Background Evaporation is the process by which water changes from a liquid to a gas or vapor. Evaporation is the primary pathway that water moves from the liquid state back into the water cycle as atmospheric water vapor. Studies have shown that the oceans, seas, lakes, and rivers provide nearly 90 percent of the moisture in the atmosphere via evaporation, with the remaining 10 percent being contributed by plant transpiration. Grade level: K-4 Theme: water cycle Video: salty_regions.flv
And also in the middle of our subtropical gyres. A gyre is a current system that moves around in a circle. The "subtropics" means that it is located in an area around 30 degrees (north) latitude all around the globe. That area is where we have very strong evaporation. That evaporation means that we lose fresh water from the surface. And we lose more fresh water from the surface than we actually gain through precipitation. That area is what we call "the ocean deserts". Now on the fresh side, we have very fresh water near the coastlines and that's because we have the river waters flowing in. And we also have fresh water near the high latitudes where we have ice. Grade level: K-4 Theme: water cycle Video: water_everywhere_01.flv
Let's follow a single molecule of water, beginning in the ocean, through the paths it might take before eventually winding up right where it started - back in the big blue sea. The fuel for this journey will be provided by our planet's prime energy source: the sun. During the day, the sun heats up the air and ocean surface, causing water molecules to evaporate. Evaporation occurs when a liquid molecule of water escapes into the air as a gas. This scientific visualization shows how water evaporation, indicated in turquoise, is driven by the energy of the sun. Notice how the rate of evaporation pulses over land: it speeds up during the day and almost disappears at night. Over the ocean, evaporation appears to remain constant, both day and night. Water in the air in gas form is known as water vapor. The molecule is now fresh water, having left the ocean salt and other particles behind. (source) Grade level: K-4 Theme: water cycle Video: Evap_and_clock_IPOD.m4v.flv
Water regulates climate, storing heat during the day and releasing it at night. Water in the ocean and atmosphere carry heat from the tropics to the poles. The process by which water moves around the earth, from the ocean, to the atmosphere, to the land and back to the ocean is called the water cycle. This animation was created using data from the GEOS-5 atmospheric model on the cubed-sphere, run at 14-km global resolution for 30-days. Variables animated here include evaporation, water vapor and precipitation. This animation is time synchronous throughout the animation to allow cross fades during compositing. (source) Grade level: K-4 Theme: water cycle Video: WC_evaporation_IPOD.m4v.flv
Water regulates climate, storing heat during the day and releasing it at night. Water in the ocean and atmosphere carry heat from the tropics to the poles. The process by which water moves around the earth, from the ocean, to the atmosphere, to the land and back to the ocean is called the water cycle. This animation was created using data from the GEOS-5 atmospheric model on the cubed-sphere, run at 14-km global resolution for 30-days. Variables animated here include evaporation, water vapor and precipitation. This animation is time synchronous throughout the animation to allow cross fades during compositing. (source) Grade level: K-4 Theme: water cycle Video: WC_vapor_IPOD.m4v.flv
Water regulates climate, storing heat during the day and releasing it at night. Water in the ocean and atmosphere carry heat from the tropics to the poles. The process by which water moves around the earth, from the ocean, to the atmosphere, to the land and back to the ocean is called the water cycle. This animation was created using data from the GEOS-5 atmospheric model on the cubed-sphere, run at 14-km global resolution for 30-days. Variables animated here include evaporation, water vapor and precipitation. This animation is time synchronous throughout the animation to allow cross fades during compositing. (source) Grade level: K-4 Theme: water cycle Video: WC_SST_IPOD.m4v.flv
Water regulates climate, storing heat during the day and releasing it at night. Water in the ocean and atmosphere carry heat from the tropics to the poles. The process by which water moves around the earth, from the ocean, to the atmosphere, to the land and back to the ocean is called the water cycle. Data for this animation was derived from a model run of ECCO's Ocean General Circulation Model of heat along the ocean's surface. (source) Grade level: K-4 Theme: water cycle Video: WC_rivers_IPOD.m4v.flv
Water regulates climate, storing heat during the day and releasing it at night. Water in the ocean and atmosphere carry heat from the tropics to the poles. The process by which water moves around the earth, from the ocean, to the atmosphere, to the land and back to the ocean is called the water cycle. (source) |