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Salt, Ice and Very Little Else is a free printable Grade 5 science worksheet on describing and graphing the distribution of water on Earth, aligned to NGSS performance expectation 5-ESS2-2. It prints 4 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions, 24 of them with different questions, so no two students in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

Set 1 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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One paper per student

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24 of these 25 sets ask different questions — this skill does not have 25 questions to give. The rest reorder them, so no two students have the same paper in front of them.

Salt, Ice and Very Little Else

5-ESS2-2

NameDate

Look at the data, then answer.

1.
KitchenToiletsGardenScience room05101520253035404550
Share of a school's water use by area, in parts per hundred. Which area used least?
2.
OceansIceGroundwaterLakes and rivers01002003004005006007008009001000
Share of Earth's water by store, in parts per thousand. How much is in lakes and rivers?
3.
Ice capsGroundwaterLakes and rivers010203040506070
Share of Earth's FRESH water, in parts per hundred. Which holds the most?
4.
ToiletShowerWashingDrinking0102030405060
Water used by a household in liters a day. Which use took the most?

LessonPrint · 5-ESS2-2 · Set 1 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Salt, Ice and Very Little Else

Set 1. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.The science room, at 6 parts in 100.
  2. 2.About 1 part in 1,000.
  3. 3.Ice caps and glaciers, with about 69 parts in 100.
  4. 4.The shower, at 65 liters.

Questions about Salt, Ice and Very Little Else

What does the Salt, Ice and Very Little Else worksheet cover?

It practices describing and graphing the distribution of water on Earth — 4 questions for Grade 5, all on NGSS 5-ESS2-2: Graph how much of Earth's water is salt and how much is fresh. The instruction to students is “Look at the data, then answer”, and the answer key follows on the next sheet.

Which NGSS performance expectation does Salt, Ice and Very Little Else practice?

5-ESS2-2, under Earth and Space Science for Grade 5. The published performance expectation reads: “Describe and graph the amounts of salt water and fresh water in various reservoirs to provide evidence about the distribution of water on Earth.” The worksheet assesses that performance expectation rather than a paraphrase of it.

What age or grade is this worksheet for?

Salt, Ice and Very Little Else is written for Grade 5, typically ages 10-11. It is one of the sheets on 5-ESS2-2, so it suits any student working at that standard — including older students revisiting it and younger ones working ahead.

Does Salt, Ice and Very Little Else come with an answer key?

Yes. All 4 answers are generated from the same problems as the questions, so the key cannot drift out of step with the sheet. It starts on a fresh sheet of paper, after the questions, so it is not handed out with the class by accident.

How many different versions of Salt, Ice and Very Little Else can I print?

25 versions, of which 24 ask genuinely different questions — this skill does not have 25 distinct questions to give, so the rest reorder them and no two students still share a paper. Set 1 downloads all 25 as one PDF.

Is Salt, Ice and Very Little Else free to print and photocopy?

Yes. Salt, Ice and Very Little Else, its answer key and its 25 versions are free to print and photocopy for your own class, with no account, no email capture and no subscription at the download step. Please do not resell them or republish them as your own.

Is there a lesson plan to teach 5-ESS2-2?

Yes — “Salt, Ice and Very Little Else” is a 60-minute Grade 5 plan for 5-ESS2-2, timed section by section, with the misconceptions to expect and an exit ticket. Salt, Ice and Very Little Else is the practice that follows it.

More practice for 5-ESS2-2

Graph how much of Earth's water is salt and how much is fresh.

Teaching this next? Salt, Ice and Very Little Else is the 60-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.

All Grade 5 worksheets

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to 5-ESS2-2 of the Next Generation Science Standards.