The greenhouse effect

Grade 6 Science Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Cause → effect chain, four boxes left to right with arrows between them. Box 1: "Sunlight warms the ground." Box 2: "The ground gives off heat." Box 3: "Greenhouse gases hold some heat back." Box 4 (what changes with more greenhouse gas): ? (blank)

2. 1.

   Ari's chain gets a fourth box: what changes when the air holds more greenhouse gas. Which words fill it?

   • The Sun brightens to match
   • The effect switches on for the first time
   • Less sunlight gets in, so Earth cools
   • More heat is held, so the average temperature rises

3. Use this

   Cause → effect chain, four boxes left to right with arrows between them. Box 1: "Forests are cleared and burned." Box 2: "More carbon dioxide in the air." Box 3: "More heat held back near the ground." Box 4: "Earth's average temperature rises."

4. 2.

   A town plants new trees, which take in carbon dioxide as they grow. Which box of Esme's chain does that push back on?

   • Box 4, since shade cools the planet
   • Box 2, since trees take carbon dioxide out of the air
   • Box 1, since trees stop the burning
   • No box, since these gases don't change how warm Earth gets

5. Use this

   Data table (NASA), columns Measured since 1880 and What it did. Row 1: Sun's energy reaching Earth, small 11-year ups and downs with no overall rise. Row 2: Earth's average surface temperature, rose about 1 °C. Row 3: Carbon dioxide in the air, kept rising.

6. 3.

   Jun compares the three rows in the NASA table. Which explanation of the warming fits the rows?

   • Rising carbon dioxide held more heat
   • A brighter Sun heated Earth
   • The ozone hole warmed the surface
   • Less sunlight got through the air
7. 4.

   A video says the Sun caused the warming since 1880. Kira checks it against the NASA table. Which response is best?

   • Disagree: Earth has not warmed
   • Agree: the Sun's 11-year ups explain it
   • Disagree: the Sun's energy shows no overall rise
   • Agree: warmer air means more sunlight was trapped
8. 5.

   Scientists also measure the upper air cooling while the surface warms. Which cause, with its reason, fits, Luz?

   • The ozone hole: its extra UV explains the warming
   • The Sun: a brighter Sun warms the upper air most
   • Nothing: the two changes cancel out
   • Greenhouse gases: they slow heat loss from the lower air
10. 6.

    Using the NASA table, Venus is almost twice as far from the Sun as Mercury, yet much hotter. Which explanation fits, Milo?

    • Venus's air blocks the sunlight, which heats it
    • Venus gets far more sunlight than Mercury
    • Venus is closer to the Sun than Mercury
    • Venus's thick carbon dioxide air holds in heat
11. 7.

    Mars's air is mostly carbon dioxide too, yet Mars averages −65 °C. Using the NASA table, why isn't it warm like Venus, Noah?

    Use the picture in question 6.

    • Carbon dioxide can't hold any heat on a planet like Mars
    • Mars has thicker air than Venus
    • Its air is very thin, and it is farther from the Sun
    • Its carbon dioxide blocks the sunlight
12. 8.

    Venus has 92 bars of air pressure, mostly carbon dioxide. Earth has 1 bar. What does that pair of facts help Pia explain?

    Use the picture in question 6.

    • Why Venus has no greenhouse effect
    • Why Venus is the hottest planet
    • Why Venus is the closest planet to the Sun
    • Why Venus is colder than Mercury
13. 9.

    Ren's friend says the greenhouse effect is just bad, and Earth would be better off without it. Which response is best?

    • Disagree: it happens on Venus, not Earth
    • Agree: it blocks sunlight we need
    • Disagree: without it, Earth would be over 30 °C colder
    • Agree: it was created when people started burning fuels
14. 10.

    A poster says the warming comes from the ozone hole letting in extra sunlight. What should Tala write beside it?

    • Right: the ozone hole explains the warming
    • Not right: extra UV can't explain the surface warming
    • Not right: Earth has not warmed
    • Right: the Sun is brighter now