How many stages of the water cycle are there? I think there is four. Am I right?

Yes, you are correct. There are four stages in the water cycle.

To understand this, let's break down the water cycle:

1. Evaporation: This is the first stage where water from sources like oceans, lakes, and rivers is heated by the sun's energy. The heat causes the water molecules to gain enough energy to change from liquid to vapor and rise into the atmosphere.

2. Condensation: In this stage, the water vapor rises into the cooler upper atmosphere, where it begins to cool down. As the temperature decreases, the water vapor forms tiny water droplets, which come together to form clouds.

3. Precipitation: The third stage occurs when the water droplets in the clouds grow large enough to fall back to the Earth's surface as precipitation. This can take the form of rain, snow, sleet, or hail.

4. Collection: The final stage of the water cycle involves the precipitation reaching the Earth's surface and gathering in bodies of water such as oceans, lakes, rivers, and underground aquifers. This water will eventually evaporate again, restarting the cycle.

So, to recap, the four stages of the water cycle are: evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and collection.