Lesson Vocabulary
Yellow water lilly, Nuphar lutea. Photo courtesy of randihausken/Flickr.
Aquifer: underground layer of permeable rock, from which groundwater can be easily extracted using a well.
Condensation: water changes from a gas to a liquid.
Condensation nuclei: particles of dust, pollen, salt, ice, etc. around which water vapor condenses
Evaporation: water changes to water vapor
Evapotranspiration: evaporation + transpiration
Groundwater: water stored underground, in the pore spaces of rocks and soil
Humidity: measure of the amount of water vapor in the air
Infiltration: water that seeps into the soil and can become groundwater
Precipitation: water falls to Earth as rain, snow, sleet, hail, etc.
Reservoir: place where water is stored
Residence Time: amount of time a water molecule will stay in one reservoir
Runoff: water on the surface of earth that does not infiltrate the ground
Transpiration: liquid water from the leaves of plants changes to water vapor
Water Table: top surface of groundwater
Last modified: Thursday, 15 July 2010, 1:53 PM