Skip to content
LessonPrint

Where a Plant's Mass Comes From is a free printable Grade 5 science worksheet on arguing that plants get their materials chiefly from air and water, aligned to Common Core standard 5-LS1-1. It prints 5 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two pupils in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

Set 20 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

Next setLesson plan

One paper per pupil

12345678910111213141516171819202122232425

Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.

Where a Plant's Mass Comes From

5-LS1-1

NameDate

Read the record, then answer the questions.

1.Read the record, then answer the questions.

Where the Plant's Mass Came From

A five-month record of a potted plant, with the pot and soil weighed separately. OVER FIVE MONTHS Plant mass at the start ......... 12 g Plant mass at the end ........... 486 g Dry soil at the start ........... 2,000 g Dry soil at the end ............. 1,988 g Water given over five months .... about 9 litres The pot stood in the light and was not fed.

  1. 1. Can the soil account for the plant's gain?
  2. 2. How much dry soil was lost?
  3. 3. Where did most of the plant's new material come from?
  4. 4. What claim does this record support?
2.Why weigh the soil dry rather than damp?
  • A.Water in the soil would change the reading without any material being used
  • B.Dry soil is lighter
  • C.It is easier to handle
3.A pupil says plants eat soil. What evidence contradicts that?
  • A.The soil lost 12 g while the plant gained 474 g
  • B.Plants have no mouths
  • C.Soil is heavy
4.What does the plant take from the soil, if not most of its mass?
  • A.Water and small amounts of minerals
  • B.All of its material
  • C.Nothing at all
5.A plant gained 474 g while the dry soil lost only 12 g. What does that rule out?
  • A.That the plant's mass came mostly from the soil
  • B.That the plant grew
  • C.That soil matters at all

LessonPrint · 5-LS1-1 · Set 20 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Where a Plant's Mass Comes From

Set 20. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. No: the plant gained 474 g and the soil lost only 12 g. 2. 12 g, from 2,000 g to 1,988 g. 3. From air and water rather than from the soil. 4. Plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water.
  2. 2.Water in the soil would change the reading without any material being used
  3. 3.The soil lost 12 g while the plant gained 474 g
  4. 4.Water and small amounts of minerals
  5. 5.That the plant's mass came mostly from the soil

More practice for 5-LS1-1

Argue that plants build themselves mostly from air and water.

Teaching this next? Where a Plant's Mass Comes From is the 60-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.

All Grade 5 worksheets

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to 5-LS1-1 of the Next Generation Science Standards.