The Roles of Water in Earths Surface Processes Science Games

In this series of games, your students will learn about where water can be found on Earth, and about the effects water has on our planet. The Roles of Water in Earths Surface Processes learning objective — based on NGSS and state standards — delivers improved student engagement and academic performance in your classroom, as demonstrated by research.

Scroll down for a preview of this learning objective’s games and the concepts.

Concepts Covered

The hydrosphere includes Earth’s water in liquid, ice, and gas form, including the water in the atmosphere, oceans, rivers, lakes, glaciers, soils, and groundwater. Water vapor is a gaseous form of water found in the atmosphere in fog or clouds. Water can fall from clouds in the atmosphere as precipitation, such as rain or snow. Water on the Earth’s surface can be found in the form of ice, snow, and running water.

Groundwater is water that flows beneath the Earth’s surface through soil and rocks. Surface runoff is water that moves downhill across the Earth’s surface towards the ocean due to the force of gravity. The flow of water downhill causes weathering and erosion that can shape landforms on Earth. Weathering is the process by which rocks, soil, and sediments are broken down into smaller particles.  Erosion is the process by which rock, soil, and/or sediments are transported from one location to another.

97% of Earth’s water is salt water located in the ocean. Ocean water is a mix of gases and solids, such as salts. The ocean floor has different features such as the continental shelf, continental slope, and continental rise. Most of Earth’s freshwater is located in glaciers, polar ice caps, or groundwater. Only a small fraction of Earth’s freshwater is located in Earth’s streams, lakes, wetlands, and the atmosphere.

A preview of each game in the learning objective is found below.

You can access all of the games on Legends of Learning for free, forever, with a teacher account. A free teacher account also allows you to create playlists of games and assignments for students and track class progress. Sign up for free today!