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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 17 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. What would happen on a hotter, sunnier day?
  2. 2. Where did the drops under the plastic wrap come from?
  3. 3. How did the bowl in the sun compare with the bowl in the shade?
  4. 4. Why was a second bowl left in the shade?
2.Rivers pour into the sea all the time. Why does the sea not overflow?
  • A.Rivers stop at night
  • B.The sea floor drinks it
  • C.Water evaporates from its surface all the time
3.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
4.Where does most of the water vapor in the air come from?
  • A.Water evaporating from the oceans
  • B.Breathing animals
  • C.Ponds in parks
5.What gives sea water the energy to evaporate?
  • A.The salt in it
  • B.The fish in it
  • C.Heat from the sun
6.Which two of Earth's systems does evaporation from the sea link?
  • A.The land and living things
  • B.The water and the air
  • C.The air and the rocks only
7.What would happen to rain over the land if the sun stopped warming the sea?
  • A.There would be more rain
  • B.Much less water would evaporate, so there would be much less rain
  • C.Nothing would change

LessonPrint · 5-ESS2-1 · Set 17 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Where the Sun Sends the Water

Set 17. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. More drops would form under the plastic wrap and more water would collect in the cup. 2. Water from the salty water went up into the air and turned back into drops on the plastic wrap. 3. The bowl in the sun made far more drops; the bowl in the shade had only a few and its cup stayed empty. 4. So the effect of the sun could be seen by comparing the two bowls.
  2. 2.Water evaporates from its surface all the time
  3. 3.Plastic wrap stretched over the top
  4. 4.Water evaporating from the oceans
  5. 5.Heat from the sun
  6. 6.The water and the air
  7. 7.Much less water would evaporate, so there would be much less rain

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