How Does Water Heat Earth?
Water constitutes around 70 percent of the Earth’s surface. Water on the Earth gets heated due to solar radiation. The water traps and stores the heat inside the ocean. How does water heat the Earth? To know the answer for this question, you can conduct simple science experiments for kids so that they understand the concept in a much better way. Learning science is one of the important subjects in their school curriculum. Therefore, you must teach your kids in a fun and creative way for better learning outcomes.
Contents
- What is Water?
- Easy Science Project: How Does Water Heat Earth?
- Benefits of Learning about Water
- Frequently Asked Questions on How Does Water Heat Earth?
The ocean is responsible for transferring heat on the surface of the Earth. The heat affects the weather conditions and climate change on the Earth. Around 23 percent of the solar energy is absorbed by the water, which is converted into heat. This is the energy that is responsible for heating the Earth’s surface. The energy that is absorbed by the Earth is reflected back to the atmosphere in the form of condensation, radiation and latent heat. To explain the whole process of how water heats the Earth to children, do a DIY science project so that kids understand the concept easily.
What is Water?
Water is an odorless and tasteless substance that constitutes about 70 percent of the Earth’s surface. All living organisms depend on water to survive. The water molecule consists of two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen. Water is found on the Earth in the form of oceans, rivers, ponds, lakes, waterfalls, etc. Needless to say, water is used for drinking, cleaning, washing, cooking, agriculture, etc. Water does have any shape as it takes the shape of a container. It can change its form depending on the temperature. For example, it changes into ice at freezing point, ice to water at the melting point, water to vapor during vaporization and vapor to water during condensation.
More water is found in the ocean and plays a vital role in physical and chemical weathering processes on the Earth’s surface. Water contributes to the water cycle process, which is an exchange of water with the atmosphere, soil, ocean and plants. It undergoes important processes such as evaporation, condensation, precipitation, infiltration, transpiration and runoff. To learn about the process, children can refer to the water cycle worksheet.
Fun Facts about Water
Some of the interesting facts about water are mentioned below:
- Most of the substances dissolve in water.
- Around 70 percent of the surface of the Earth is covered by water.
- Approximately 400 billion gallons of water is used by the United States of America.
- Water is responsible for regulating the temperature of the Earth.
- Around 10 percent of the home leaks water resulting in 90 gallons of water wastage.
- Only 3.5 percent of the Earth’s water is fresh.
- The salt found in the ocean is similar to the ones we use for cooking.
- Water can be found in three different stages such as solid, liquid and gas.
- No person in the world can survive without water.
- Around 70 percent of the brain is water.
- Water is the most important and used resource in the world.
- Approximately 90 percent of fresh water is located in Antarctica.
- The human body constitutes about 60 to 70 percent of the water.
- Around 97 percent of the water is salty.
Easy Science Project: How Does Water Heat Earth?
The water molecules absorb the heat radiated by the sun, which in turn radiate heat to the Earth’s surface. The climate change of the Earth depends on the heat energy radiated by the sun. During the water cycle, the heat radiated from the sunlight warms the water that makes water molecules evaporate as vapor. Water gets heated faster in comparison to the air because the molecules present in the water are closer to each other and move faster within the water. How does water heat the Earth? Let us know the answer for this question by conducting an experiment given below.
Aim of the Project
To perform the experiment and check the temperature of the water after getting exposed to the heat radiation using the materials available at home. Observe and record the result.
Materials Required
- Two beakers
- Water
- Thermometer
- A paper and a pen
- A lamp
- A cardboard
- A scissor
Procedure
- Take a piece of cardboard and cut it in the shape of a box covering all the corners except for the top portion.
- Take two glasses of water and keep them inside the cardboard box labeling them as A and B.
- Switch on the lamp and place it above glass A.
- Keep the glass B without exposing it to the light.
- Check the temperature of the two glasses of water at the beginning and note it down on a sheet of paper.
- Check the temperature of the water for both the glasses every 5, 10 and 15 minutes.
Result
It was observed that glass A showed the maximum amount of temperature compared to glass B. It is due to the water exposed to the heat radiation from the lamp enabling it to increase its temperature compared to the other glass, which did not receive any heat radiation resulting in low temperature. Therefore, the water traps and holds the heat inside the water and spreads the same to the atmosphere. Water collects a large amount of heat radiated by the lamp.
Benefits of Learning about Water
Some of the benefits of learning about water are mentioned below:
- Develops knowledge about water and its importance to Earth and the environment.
- Creates awareness among children about conserving water for future generations.
- Helps in understanding the concept of how water heats the Earth.
- Enables children to know about the important water resources found on Earth.
- Increases observational and analytical skills while performing experiments on water.
- Increases confidence to learn about scientific concepts easily.
To know more information, explore science games for kids, STEM activities for kids in the kids learning section at Osmo.
Frequently Asked Questions on How Does Water Heat Earth?
How does water heat the Earth?
Water traps and holds the heat radiated by the sunlight. The water molecules absorb some amount of heat and spread rest to the Earth’s atmosphere. Water can absorb more heat with a slight increase in temperature.
What are the benefits of learning about water?
Some of the benefits of learning about water is that it helps children to understand about water and its importance for Earth’s atmosphere. Most importantly, it enables children to learn about the scientific concepts behind how water heats the Earth. Also, children would be able to conduct science experiments related to water at home and learn interesting facts about water.