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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 22 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. How much water was in the cup by the evening?
  2. 2. How did the bowl in the sun compare with the bowl in the shade?
  3. 3. What claim does this record support?
  4. 4. What formed under the plastic wrap at midday?
2.Sea water is salty, but rain from clouds over the sea is fresh. Why?
  • A.Clouds clean the salt out
  • B.Only the water evaporates; the salt stays in the sea
  • C.The rain is from rivers
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.The table
  • C.Plastic wrap stretched over the top
4.Where does most of the water vapor in the air come from?
  • A.Breathing animals
  • B.Ponds in parks
  • C.Water evaporating from the oceans
5.Why do salt makers spread sea water in wide shallow ponds?
  • A.So fish can swim in them
  • B.So the water stays cold
  • C.The sun and wind can evaporate the water faster
6.What would happen to rain over the land if the sun stopped warming the sea?
  • A.Nothing would change
  • B.There would be more rain
  • C.Much less water would evaporate, so there would be much less rain
7.Sea water is left in a shallow pan in the sun for a week. What is left?
  • A.Salt crystals, after the water has evaporated
  • B.Nothing at all
  • C.Fresh water

LessonPrint · 5-ESS2-1 · Set 22 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Where the Sun Sends the Water

Set 22. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. 15 ml of water. 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 sun's warmth sends water from salty water into the air, and the salt is left behind. 4. Water drops.
  2. 2.Only the water evaporates; the salt stays in the sea
  3. 3.Plastic wrap stretched over the top
  4. 4.Water evaporating from the oceans
  5. 5.The sun and wind can evaporate the water faster
  6. 6.Much less water would evaporate, so there would be much less rain
  7. 7.Salt crystals, after the water has evaporated

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