Trace stores and water-cycle processes
See this course’s project requirements
A fictional watershed diagram tracking runoff, infiltration, groundwater and pollution paths, with a supported upstream/downstream prevention choice.
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What to include
- Draw outlet-specific and nested drainage boundaries.
- Label water stores, phase changes and land/plant routes.
- Balance supplied rain budgets and compare fractions.
- Read groundwater/stream exchange cross-sections.
- Trace a possible pollution route without inventing treatment.
- Explain a responsible paper prevention choice and include all changed cases.
Review and revise
Use these criteria to check your work and choose what to improve.
- Method: applies the course-specific rules to the supplied cases with visible intermediate work.
- Accuracy: results agree with the stated facts, units, boundaries and independent checks.
- Reasoning: explains why the result follows and identifies a limitation or unresolved question.
- Transfer: completes changed cases and revises the final project when a relevant assumption changes.
Want more background?
The idea in everyday life
Paper route: lake liquid→atmospheric vapor→cloud droplets→rain on hillside→part infiltrates soil and part runs to Creek W→lake. A plant-root route takes up some soil water and releases vapor by transpiration. No drinking or outdoor sampling task is required.
The water cycle moves water among surface, underground and atmospheric stores. Evaporation converts liquid to vapor; condensation forms liquid droplets; precipitation returns water to the surface; infiltration enters the ground; runoff moves over it. Water can stay in a store for different times, so the cycle is not one fixed sequence or speed.
Trace stores and water-cycle processes — worked practice
The water cycle moves water among surface, underground and atmospheric stores. Evaporation converts liquid to vapor; condensation forms liquid droplets; precipitation returns water to the surface; infiltration enters the ground; runoff moves over it. Water can stay in a store for different times, so the cycle is not one fixed sequence or speed.
Paper route: lake liquid→atmospheric vapor→cloud droplets→rain on hillside→part infiltrates soil and part runs to Creek W→lake. A plant-root route takes up some soil water and releases vapor by transpiration. No drinking or outdoor sampling task is required.
1. 1. Atmosphere
Label liquid-to-vapor and vapor-to-droplet steps.
You should see: Evaporation then condensation.
2. 2. Return
Label droplets reaching the land.
You should see: Precipitation.
3. 3. Split
Label the two ground routes separately.
You should see: Infiltration into ground; runoff over surface to creek.
4. 4. Plant
Add the supplied plant route without deleting other paths.
You should see: Uptake and transpiration connect soil water to atmospheric vapor.
What to finish
A labeled water-store network with a branching rain route.
Watch for this
Different routes can include storage for different periods. A network better represents the cycle than a single mandatory sequence.
How can I tell I understand it?
Label a changed into-soil route without confusing it with an atmospheric phase change.
Quick knowledge check
Answer all 3 questions. Get at least 2 right and the lesson completes automatically.
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Answer all 3 questions above and get at least 2 right. You can review the explanations and try again.
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Source & access notes · checked 2026-10-01
Web open/search showed the official page, its topic heading and relevant concept description. This is a content/source check, not a provider endorsement.
Access: Official page retrieved with the web reader on 2026-10-01; interactive tools and videos were not certified by retrieval.
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