The water cycle, powered by the Sun and pulled by gravity
Grade 6 Science Worksheet
Circle the best answer.
the water level inside is the same as before. On a hot day, drops form on the outside of Bo's glass of ice water. Where did that water come from?
- Water leaking through the glass
- Water vapor in the air, cooled by the cold glass
- Melted ice seeping out through the side of the glass
- Water evaporating from inside the glass
Wet towels hung outside in the morning are dry by evening. Where did the water go, by Esme's thinking?
- It condensed into the towel threads
- Down into the ground as runoff
- It was destroyed by the Sun
- Into the air as water vapor
Rain falls on a grassy field with loose, dry soil. Where does much of the water go next, in Kira's model?
- It has to flow along the surface straight to the ocean
- It soaks into the ground toward the groundwater
- It disappears into the grass
- Back up to the clouds right away
“low corner” Rain falls on a big paved parking lot. Where does most of that water go, as Luz predicts?
- It runs off the surface into drains and streams
- It soaks down through the pavement into the groundwater
- It condenses into a cloud right away
- It has to evaporate before it can move
A snowflake lands on a glacier high in the mountains. What might happen to its water, by Milo's reading?
- It could stay frozen in the ice for many years
- It condenses back into a cloud
- It vanishes once it lands
- It must melt and flow down to the ocean that same week
Read this first
Table (USGS, Where is Earth's Water?), with columns Place and Share of all water
Oceans about 96.5%; ice caps and glaciers about 1.7%; groundwater about 1.7%; lakes, rivers, air and living things, less than 0.1%.
Noah reads the USGS table of where Earth's water is. Where is most of Earth's water?
- Rivers and lakes
- The oceans, about 96.5%
- Ice caps and glaciers
- Clouds and air, since rain falls so often
Ice caps and glaciers about 69%; groundwater about 30%; lakes, rivers and other surface water about 1%. Pia reads that most of Earth's fresh water is not in rivers or lakes. Where is most of it, by the USGS figures?
- Underground, at about 90%
- In rivers and lakes
- Frozen in ice caps and glaciers
- In clouds and fog
Table, Two puddles (example data, read about), with columns Puddle, Temperature and Time to dry
Puddle in shade, 18 °C (64 °F), dry after 6 hours; puddle in sun, 30 °C (86 °F), dry after 2 hours.
Tala reads about two equal puddles. The one in the shade, at 18 °C, dried in 6 hours. The one in the sun, at 30 °C, dried in 2 hours. What does this show?
- Gravity pulled the sunny puddle into the ground
- Warmer water evaporates faster
- The sunny puddle's water was destroyed faster
- The shady puddle condensed instead
Warm, moist air rises up a mountainside and cools as it climbs. What does Zee expect to form near the top?
- Nothing; the Sun pulls the air back down
- Clear air, since cooling makes vapor evaporate
- A cloud of invisible vapor
- Clouds, as the vapor condenses into drops
On a cool, clear morning, the grass in Ari's yard is covered with dew. Where did the dew come from?
- Water vapor in the air condensed on the cold grass
- The grass evaporated water onto itself
- Water leaked up and out of the tips of the grass blades
- Rain fell quietly during the night