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Where the Sun Sends the Water is a free printable Grade 5 science worksheet on using a covered-bowl model of how the sun moves water from sea to air, aligned to NGSS performance expectation 5-ESS2-1. It prints 7 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask 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 14 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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

Where the Sun Sends the Water

5-ESS2-1

NameDate

Read the record, then answer the questions.

1.Read the record, then answer the questions.

Salty Water Under Plastic Wrap

Notes from two bowls of salty water, each covered with plastic wrap with a small cup in the middle, left out for one sunny day. BOWL IN THE SUN Morning: plastic wrap dry, cup empty Midday: water drops forming under the plastic wrap Afternoon: drops running down the plastic wrap and dripping into the cup Evening: 15 ml of water in the cup, and a white salt crust around the bowl's edge A drop from the cup, dried on a dark tile, left no white mark. BOWL IN THE SHADE Evening: only a few drops under the plastic wrap, cup still empty

  1. 1. Why was a second bowl left in the shade?
  2. 2. How did the bowl in the sun compare with the bowl in the shade?
  3. 3. How is the bowl like the sea and the sky?
  4. 4. What claim does this record support?
2.In a model, a bowl of salty water stands for the sea. What could stand for the cool air where clouds form?
  • A.The salt
  • B.Plastic wrap stretched over the top
  • C.The table
3.Where does most of the water vapor in the air come from?
  • A.Ponds in parks
  • B.Breathing animals
  • C.Water evaporating from the oceans
4.Which two of Earth's systems does evaporation from the sea link?
  • A.The air and the rocks only
  • B.The land and living things
  • C.The water and the air
5.Sea water is left in a shallow pan in the sun for a week. What is left?
  • A.Fresh water
  • B.Salt crystals, after the water has evaporated
  • C.Nothing at all
6.Why do salt makers spread sea water in wide shallow ponds?
  • A.The sun and wind can evaporate the water faster
  • B.So the water stays cold
  • C.So fish can swim in them
7.What gives sea water the energy to evaporate?
  • A.Heat from the sun
  • B.The fish in it
  • C.The salt in it

LessonPrint · 5-ESS2-1 · Set 14 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Where the Sun Sends the Water

Set 14. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. So the effect of the sun could be seen by comparing the two bowls. 2. The bowl in the sun made far more drops; the bowl in the shade had only a few and its cup stayed empty. 3. The salty water is like the sea, and the plastic wrap is like the cool air where water vapor turns back into drops. 4. The sun's warmth sends water from salty water into the air, and the salt is left behind.
  2. 2.Plastic wrap stretched over the top
  3. 3.Water evaporating from the oceans
  4. 4.The water and the air
  5. 5.Salt crystals, after the water has evaporated
  6. 6.The sun and wind can evaporate the water faster
  7. 7.Heat from the sun

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to 5-ESS2-1 of the Next Generation Science Standards.