In this Data Puzzle, students calculate the amount of precipitation that fell in a watershed over the course of one year and the amount of water that exited from that watershed via the outflow stream. They then compare these two values and draw on their
knowledge of the water cycle to infer that the large amount of “missing” water must have exited the watershed either up into the atmosphere or down
into groundwater. This puzzle works well in an Earth science or environmental science course or unit.