Water Cycle
Follow a drop of water from the ocean to the clouds and back again.
Water Cycle puts a landscape on the screen, with the sun, clouds, mountains, an ocean, a lake and a river, and adds lettered pointers. Children name the step each pointer shows, such as evaporation, condensation, precipitation and collection, and say what is happening to the water. They also decide whether the water is a solid, a liquid or a gas before and after a step.
Level 3 adds runoff and groundwater, so the cycle includes water that flows over land and soaks into the soil. Level 4 asks what comes next in the loop, and some questions ask children to tap the arrows or drops on the picture. The last level links the cycle to heat energy, melting, freezing and the Sun.
What children practice
- Name evaporation, condensation, precipitation and collection
- Say what state water is in at each step
- Explain runoff and groundwater in the water cycle
- Predict which step comes next in the cycle
- Tell which changes take in heat and which give it off
- Explain that the Sun powers the water cycle
Levels
- Level 1: Steps and places
- Level 2: What is happening
- Level 3: Runoff and groundwater
- Level 4: What comes next
- Level 5: Energy and the Sun
How it works
- Five levels move from naming steps to heat energy and the Sun.
- To move up, your child answers five correctly and keeps practicing until the timer ends.
- A wrong answer says try again, and your child can choose once more.
- The speaker button reads each question aloud, and explanations follow correct answers.
Best for: A good fit for grades 2 to 7 during a weather or earth science unit, and for curious children who ask where rain comes from.
Tip for parents: On a rainy or sunny day, ask your child where they think each puddle's water came from and where it will go. A cold glass of water on a warm day shows condensation at work.
Questions parents ask
What states of water does the game cover?
It covers solid, liquid and gas. Children say whether the water is ice, liquid or vapor before and after a step. Level 5 includes melting, freezing and snow turning straight into water vapor.
Does it explain where the energy comes from?
Yes. Level 5 asks which pointer marks the main source of energy for the water cycle, which is the Sun. It also asks which changes take in heat energy, such as melting, and which give heat off, such as freezing.
Are there tapping questions?
Some rounds ask your child to tap the arrows or drops on the picture that show a certain part of the cycle, such as water moving over land. Most others use answer buttons that name the step or the state of the water.
Ready to try it?
Water Cycle is free with a parent account. A parent adds a child profile, and the child's progress is saved.