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?

   • Less sunlight gets in, so Earth cools
   • The Sun brightens to match
   • The effect switches on for the first time
   • 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: "People burn coal, oil and gas for energy." Box 2: "More carbon dioxide builds up in the air." Box 3: ? (blank). Box 4: "Earth's average temperature rises."

4. 2.

   In Bo's chain about fuel, Box 3 is blank. Which words fill Box 3?

   • The ozone hole is what warms the ground
   • The gases block more of the incoming sunlight
   • The ground stops giving off heat
   • The gases hold back more of the ground's heat

5. 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."

6. 3.

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

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

7. 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.

8. 4.

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

   • Less sunlight got through the air
   • The ozone hole warmed the surface
   • Rising carbon dioxide held more heat
   • A brighter Sun heated Earth
10. 5.

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

    • Venus gets far more sunlight than Mercury
    • Venus is closer to the Sun than Mercury
    • Venus's thick carbon dioxide air holds in heat
    • Venus's air blocks the sunlight, which heats it
11. 6.

    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 5.

    • Carbon dioxide can't hold any heat on a planet like Mars
    • Its carbon dioxide blocks the sunlight
    • Its air is very thin, and it is farther from the Sun
    • Mars has thicker air than Venus
12. 7.

    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 5.

    • Why Venus is the closest planet to the Sun
    • Why Venus is colder than Mercury
    • Why Venus is the hottest planet
    • Why Venus has no greenhouse effect
13. 8.

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

    • Disagree: without it, Earth would be over 30 °C colder
    • Agree: it blocks sunlight we need
    • Disagree: it happens on Venus, not Earth
    • Agree: it was created when people started burning fuels
14. 9.

    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: Earth has not warmed
    • Not right: extra UV can't explain the surface warming
    • Right: the Sun is brighter now
15. 10.

    Zee's cousin says extra carbon dioxide can't matter, since the greenhouse effect is natural. Which response fits?

    • Agree: extra gas just blocks sunlight
    • Disagree: more of the gas holds back more heat
    • Disagree: carbon dioxide is not a greenhouse gas
    • Agree: natural effects stay fixed