Vocabulary - WATER WORDS - Grade 2

A glossary of water words used in the context of this Toolkit is provided to help learners enhance their language skills in a science context.

Water – a colourless, odourless, tasteless liquid at room temperature, which freezes at O°C and boils at 100°C
Rain – water falling in drops from vapour condensed in the air
Snow – precipitation falling in the form of ice crystals
Sleet – partially melted falling snow
Ice – water frozen in its solid state
Frost – ice crystals which form a deposit on a surface
Hail – precipitation of ice pellets
Fog - droplets of water vapor suspended in the air near the ground
Vapour – a visible suspension in the air of a substance
Steam – water vapour produced by heating water past the boiling point
Mist – a thin fog of condensation near the ground
Dew – water that has condensed onto a cool surface overnight from water vapour in the air
Cloud – a collection of particles, dust or water vapour that is visible
Freeze – to remove heat from a liquid until it changes to a solid form
Condense – change from a gas to a liquid state
Evaporate – to turn from a liquid into a gas
Solid – having a definite shape; non-liquid, non-gas
Liquid – a state in which a substance has no fixed shape, and has a tendency to flow
Gas – the state of matter that is non-liquid and non-solid; low density, easily able to diffuse
Dissolve – to mix a solid into a liquid until it becomes a liquid as well (see salt or sugar)
Habitat – a place where a plant or animal species lives with certain other plant and animal (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) surroundings.
Environment – everything in an living thing’s surroundings that affects how it grows, develops or survives

Big Water Words

Evaporation - the process of water turning from a liquid to a gas (water vapour) and entering the atmosphere
Precipitation - any form of water falling from clouds to the earth - rain, snow, sleet, hail, freezing rain
Condensation - water vapour collecting into droplets when it cools
Pollution - the addition of harmful substances to the environment through human activity
Transpiration - water vapour released by plants into the air
Perspiration - water given off by the body during exercise which evaporates to produce cooling
Irrigation - moving water to where it is needed for agriculture
Vaporize - to convert a liquid into a mist or vapour by mixing it with air
Groundwater - water that is found beneath the earth's surface
Cycle - the interval at which a set of events is repeated
Temperature - the hotness or coldness of a body or substance (speed of molecular activity)
Gravity - the force of attraction between masses; especially the attraction of the Earth (a very big mass) for bodies near its surface. Gravity pulls things on the Earth's surface towards the Earth's centre, which we call "down."

Bodies of Water

Ocean and seas - the Earth's largest bodies of water
Lake - a body of fresh water surrounded by land
River - a large natural stream of water
Stream - a natural body of water flowing on or under the earth
Brook - a small natural stream of water, sometimes a river tributary
Wetland - an area where water covers the ground most of the year, which supports aquatic plants
Spring - a natural flow of ground water
Well - a deep hole in the ground that is dug to reach clean water for drinking
Puddle - pool of water on the ground or other surface