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6th grade The greenhouse effect worksheet

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The greenhouse effect

Grade 6 Science Worksheet

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

  1. Burning coal for electricity adds carbon dioxide to the air. As it builds up, what happens to the heat the ground gives off, Ari?

    • The same amount escapes as before
    • Less sunlight reaches the ground to make it
    • More of it is held near Earth
    • More of it escapes to space

  2. Rice farms give off methane, a greenhouse gas (NASA). If more methane builds up in the air, what does Esme predict?

    • The air holds back less heat
    • Less sunlight gets through to the ground
    • The air holds back a bit more heat
    • The Sun shines more strongly on Earth

  3. Read this first

    Use this

    Data table (NOAA Climate.gov), columns Measure and Value. Row 1: Global warming rate since 1850, 0.06 °C per decade. Row 2: Global warming rate since 1982, 0.20 °C per decade. Row 3: 2024 compared with the 1850–1900 average, 1.35 °C warmer. Row 4: Warmest year since records began in 1850, 2024.

  4. Using the NOAA table, how does the warming rate since 1982 compare with the rate since 1850, Jun?

    • About half as fast
    • More than three times as fast
    • About the same speed
    • Twenty times as fast

  5. Kira checks the NOAA table for a class report. Which year was the warmest since records began?

    • 1850
    • 2024
    • 1982
    • 1900

  6. A cold snap freezes Luz's town for a week in January 2024 (the snowman is thrilled). Does that week cancel the warming in the NOAA table?

    • Yes: one cold week ends the trend
    • Yes: it shows the Sun has dimmed
    • No: but the table is about sunlight
    • No: the table shows a long global average

  7. A forest is cleared, and the wood is burned. Which greenhouse gas does that add to the air, by Milo's NASA notes?

    • Carbon dioxide
    • Ozone that blocks sunlight
    • Nitrogen
    • Oxygen

  8. Fertilizer spread on farm fields gives off a greenhouse gas. Which one does Noah find on NASA's list?

    • Water vapor from the Sun
    • Oxygen
    • Nitrogen from the air
    • Nitrous oxide

  9. Since about 1750, the rise in greenhouse gases was caused by human activities (IPCC). What adds most of the extra carbon dioxide, Pia?

    • Volcanic eruptions
    • Sunlight through the ozone hole
    • Burning fossil fuels for energy
    • A brighter Sun

  10. Tala reads the IPCC's main finding about the warming of the air, ocean and land. What does it say?

    • A brightening Sun warmed them
    • Natural changes alone warmed them
    • Human influence has clearly warmed them
    • They have not warmed since 1850

  11. Earth and the Moon are about the same distance from the Sun. NASA gives Earth a mean of 15 °C and the Moon −20 °C. Why the difference, Zee?

    • The Moon's gases block its sunlight
    • The Moon gets much less sunlight
    • Earth has greenhouse gases; the Moon has almost no air
    • The Sun shines harder on Earth
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6th grade The greenhouse effect worksheet – printable
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About this worksheet

The greenhouse effect. Every version has 10 questions, and the answer key prints on the second page.

What your child will learn

  • I can put the four boxes of the greenhouse chain in order and say which energy the gases hold back (the ground's heat, not the incoming sunlight).
  • I can name greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, nitrous oxide) and say that nitrogen and oxygen are not.
  • I can explain that the effect is natural and keeps Earth livable, and that added gases from people have strengthened it and are the main cause of warming since the mid-1900s.
  • I can use evidence (the Sun's energy, the upper and lower air, planet data) to choose between explanations.

Standard: supports MS-ESS3-5

Words to know

greenhouse effect: Gases in the air holding back some of the heat Earth gives off

greenhouse gas: A gas that holds back heat, such as carbon dioxide or methane

infrared (heat): The kind of energy warm ground gives off

fossil fuels: Coal, oil and gas, which release carbon dioxide when burned

consensus: What nearly all the scientists who study it agree the evidence shows

Common mistakes

Your child thought greenhouse gases block or trap the incoming sunlight. Most sunlight passes through; the gases hold back heat the warm ground gives off.

Your child linked the greenhouse effect or the warming to the ozone hole. NASA says extra UV through the hole cannot explain the surface warming. Ask which gases hold back heat.

Your child thought the greenhouse effect was made by people or is only harmful. It is natural, and without it Earth would be more than 30 °C colder. People have added to it. Ask what Earth would be like without it.

What to say

Ask: what goes in, and what comes out?

Questions parents ask

What is the most common mistake with the greenhouse effect?

Your child thought greenhouse gases block or trap the incoming sunlight. Most sunlight passes through; the gases hold back heat the warm ground gives off.

How can I help my child with the greenhouse effect?

Ask: what goes in, and what comes out?

Are these 6th grade science worksheets free to print?

Yes. All 6 printable versions at each level are free to print, with the answer key, and no account is needed.

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