Water

I tumble from the clouds and land on your nose. I fill your glass when you’re thirsty and your bathtub when you’re muddy. I am inside every juicy strawberry and every tall tree. Sometimes I am hard and cold, a perfect floor for ice skating. Other times, I am a wispy white puff of steam rising from a kettle. You can see me in the deep blue ocean, hear me in the babbling brook, and feel me in the tears that roll down your cheeks. I have been here since the Earth was very young, and I am a part of every living thing. Can you guess who I am? I am Water, and I am probably your oldest friend.

Long before there were cities with skyscrapers and busy roads, the very first towns were built right next to me. Imagine a time around 4000 BCE. Great civilizations in places like Egypt and Mesopotamia grew up along my riverbanks, like the Nile and the Tigris. People needed me to drink, to water their crops of wheat and barley, and to travel by boat to trade with their neighbors. As cities grew bigger and bigger, people had to get clever about bringing me to them, even if they lived far from a river. The ancient Romans were masters at this. Starting way back in 312 BCE, they built amazing stone bridges called aqueducts to carry me for miles into their busy cities. For thousands of years, everyone thought I was a simple, single thing—an element, like gold or iron. But on January 15th, 1783, a brilliant scientist named Henry Cavendish finally discovered my secret recipe. He found out that I'm not simple at all. I’m actually made of two different things: two parts of a gas called hydrogen and one part of a gas called oxygen. That’s why you might hear scientists call me H₂O.

I don't just help people live; I shape the very ground beneath your feet. With my steady flow over millions of years, I can carve gigantic canyons, like the Grand Canyon, and create winding, sandy coastlines. I am also the world’s weather maker. I travel in great ocean currents, moving warmth from the equator to the chilly poles, and I rise into the air to form the clouds that bring rain and snow to the land. People also learned to use my strength. Hundreds of years ago, my flow turned heavy wooden water wheels to grind grain into flour for making bread. Today, my power is used in a much bigger way. At giant structures like the Hoover Dam, which was finished on March 1st, 1936, my incredible force is used to spin machines called turbines and create electricity that powers homes, schools, and even video games.

From the tiniest cell in your body to the largest ocean on the planet, I connect everything and everyone. I am in a constant cycle, traveling from the sea to the sky to the land and back again. My journey is your journey. Because I am so important, it’s also important to remember to take care of me—to keep my rivers, lakes, and oceans clean and healthy for all the plants and animals that depend on me. Every time you take a sip of cool, clear water, swim in the sea, or watch a raindrop race down a window, remember the amazing journey I’ve been on. I am your past, your present, and your future, and I will always be here to help life flourish.