The concepts from your course
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From course to practice: the water cycle
Fixed example prepared to discover the journey. It does not come from a Fichea generation and is not created live.
Read the source course: How does water circulate?
A circulation with several paths
The water cycle is the circulation of water between the Earth’s surface, the underground and the atmosphere. Water can stay in an ocean, a lake, a glacier or an underground aquifer. It does not always follow the same path or move at the same speed. This presentation describes five phenomena, without covering every possible exchange.
Evaporation
Evaporation is the change of liquid water into water vapor, an invisible gas. It can happen at the surface of a lake or a puddle, without the water boiling. The Sun’s energy favors evaporation. The water vapor then joins the air.
Condensation
Condensation is the change of water vapor into liquid water. When humid air cools enough, part of its vapor can form tiny droplets. Clouds are made of water droplets or ice crystals, not visible water vapor. The formation of ice crystals involves other changes of state than the liquid condensation described here.
Precipitation
Precipitation is water falling from the clouds to the ground, as rain, snow or hail. In a cloud, the droplets or ice particles can grow. They fall when air movements are no longer enough to keep them suspended. Not every droplet in a cloud therefore turns into rain right away.
Infiltration
Infiltration is water entering the soil from its surface. Some of the water is stored there temporarily; some can move deeper and help feed groundwater. The amount that infiltrates depends in particular on how permeable the soil is and how much water it already holds. So not all rainwater goes straight into an aquifer.
Runoff
Runoff is water flowing over the soil surface. Under the effect of gravity, this water can reach a stream, a river, a lake or the sea. Infiltration and runoff can happen during the same rainfall: they are not two mandatory steps that all water follows in the same order.
Read the example sheet: the key concepts
- Overview
- Water moves between the surface, the subsurface and the atmosphere, along several paths.
- Course excerpt: “The water cycle is the movement of water between the Earth’s surface, the subsurface and the atmosphere.”
- Evaporation
- Liquid water → water vapor. This change can happen without boiling.
- Course excerpt: “Evaporation is liquid water turning into water vapor, an invisible gas. It can happen at the surface of a lake or a puddle, without the water boiling.”
- Condensation
- Water vapor → liquid water.
- Course excerpt: “Condensation is water vapor turning into liquid water.”
- Precipitation
- Water falls from clouds as rain, snow or hail.
- Course excerpt: “Precipitation is water falling from clouds to the ground as rain, snow or hail.”
- Infiltration
- Water enters the soil. Some of it can then feed groundwater.
- Course excerpt: “Infiltration is water entering the soil from its surface. Some of the water is stored there temporarily; some can move deeper and help feed groundwater.”
- Runoff
- Water flows over the soil surface; it does not necessarily enter the soil.
- Course excerpt: “Runoff is water flowing over the soil surface.”
Review with 8 flashcards
Look for the answer before flipping the card. The cards are a fixed example, with no mastery tracking.
Card 1 of 8
Between which main environments does water move in this course?
Between the Earth’s surface, the subsurface and the atmosphere.
Course excerpt: “The water cycle is the movement of water between the Earth’s surface, the subsurface and the atmosphere.”
Read the 8 flashcards and their answers
1. Between which main environments does water move in this course?
Answer: Between the Earth’s surface, the subsurface and the atmosphere.
Course excerpt: “The water cycle is the movement of water between the Earth’s surface, the subsurface and the atmosphere.”
2. Which source of energy promotes evaporation?
Answer: The Sun’s energy.
Course excerpt: “The Sun’s energy promotes evaporation.”
3. During evaporation, what are the water’s starting state and ending state?
Answer: The water goes from the liquid state to the gaseous state: water vapor.
Course excerpt: “Evaporation is liquid water turning into water vapor, an invisible gas.”
4. What is the condensation described here?
Answer: Water vapor turning into liquid water.
Course excerpt: “Condensation is water vapor turning into liquid water.”
5. What are clouds made of?
Answer: Water droplets or ice crystals, not visible water vapor.
Course excerpt: “Clouds are made of water droplets or ice crystals, not visible water vapor.”
6. Which three forms of precipitation are mentioned in the course?
Answer: Rain, snow and hail.
Course excerpt: “Precipitation is water falling from clouds to the ground as rain, snow or hail.”
7. What is infiltration?
Answer: Water entering the soil from its surface.
Course excerpt: “Infiltration is water entering the soil from its surface.”
8. What is runoff?
Answer: Water flowing over the soil surface.
Course excerpt: “Runoff is water flowing over the soil surface.”
This example simplifies the water cycle. Compare the answers with the source course; no teacher validation is attested.
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Flashcards
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An example of a one-week schedule for reviewing your courses with flashcards and quizzes, adapting the sessions to the hard notions.
Study methods
Review for a test with sheets, quizzes and flashcards
Organize your studying from course to exercise: a sheet to structure, a quiz to test yourself, a chat to understand and flashcards to review.
Memorizing
I can’t remember my courses: what can I do?
You understand in class but forget everything? Why memory slips, the difference between understanding and remembering, and how to make your courses stick.
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Studying while working: going back to school and work-study
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Why use Fichea for this?
How does it work?
- 1
Import your material
Add a photo of your course or a PDF, then check the content before preparing the flashcards.
- 2
Organize the concepts
First create a clear sheet to check what needs to be remembered.
- 3
Open the flashcards
Work on one piece of information or one question at a time without looking at the answer.
- 4
Repeat
Go back more often to the difficult concepts instead of rereading the whole course evenly.
Examples of use
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Frequently asked questions
How do I turn a PDF into flashcards?
Import your PDF into Fichea, prepare a sheet and check it against the course notes, then create the flashcards from that sheet depending on your plan. Each card shows a question and its answer. Scanned documents need to be readable enough.
Can I try the flashcards without an account?
Yes, the demo on this page lets you flip cards on a prepared example. To create flashcards from your own course notes, you need an account. The Pricing page details the features and quotas of each plan.
What's the difference between a sheet and flashcards?
The sheet gives a structured view of the chapter; flashcards are mainly for testing recall of specific information.
Do flashcards work for math?
They can help with definitions, formulas and conditions of application, but they don't replace solving exercises.
Does Fichea start from my own course notes?
Yes. The idea is to use the content you import as your working base, then check the results against the original source.