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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 2 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. What claim does this record support?
  3. 3. How did the bowl in the sun compare with the bowl in the shade?
  4. 4. What would happen on a hotter, sunnier day?
2.Which two of Earth's systems does evaporation from the sea link?
  • A.The land and living things
  • B.The air and the rocks only
  • C.The water and the air
3.Water vapor rises and cools. What happens to it?
  • A.It disappears
  • B.It condenses into tiny droplets that form clouds
  • C.It turns into salt
4.Rain falls far inland that began as sea water. What carried it there?
  • A.Underground rivers
  • B.Moving air, as wind carrying clouds
  • C.Birds
5.Why do puddles dry faster on a sunny day than a cloudy one?
  • A.Puddles drain faster in sunlight
  • B.The sun's heat makes the water evaporate faster
  • C.Clouds add water to puddles
6.Why do salt makers spread sea water in wide shallow ponds?
  • A.So the water stays cold
  • B.So fish can swim in them
  • C.The sun and wind can evaporate the water faster
7.What gives sea water the energy to evaporate?
  • A.The salt in it
  • B.The fish in it
  • C.Heat from the sun

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

Answer key — Where the Sun Sends the Water

Set 2. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. So the effect of the sun could be seen by comparing the two bowls. 2. The sun's warmth sends water from salty water into the air, and the salt is left behind. 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. More drops would form under the plastic wrap and more water would collect in the cup.
  2. 2.The water and the air
  3. 3.It condenses into tiny droplets that form clouds
  4. 4.Moving air, as wind carrying clouds
  5. 5.The sun's heat makes the water evaporate faster
  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.