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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.

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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. How is the bowl like the sea and the sky?
  3. 3. What claim does this record support?
  4. 4. What formed under the plastic wrap at midday?
2.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
3.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
4.Rivers pour into the sea all the time. Why does the sea not overflow?
  • A.Water evaporates from its surface all the time
  • B.Rivers stop at night
  • C.The sea floor drinks it
5.Why do salt makers spread sea water in wide shallow ponds?
  • A.So the water stays cold
  • B.The sun and wind can evaporate the water faster
  • C.So fish can swim in them
6.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
7.Why do puddles dry faster on a sunny day than a cloudy one?
  • A.Puddles drain faster in sunlight
  • B.Clouds add water to puddles
  • C.The sun's heat makes the water evaporate faster

LessonPrint · 5-ESS2-1 · Set 25 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Where the Sun Sends the Water

Set 25. 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. The salty water is like the sea, and the plastic wrap is like the cool air where water vapor turns back into drops. 3. The sun's warmth sends water from salty water into the air, and the salt is left behind. 4. Water drops.
  2. 2.It condenses into tiny droplets that form clouds
  3. 3.Water evaporating from the oceans
  4. 4.Water evaporates from its surface all the time
  5. 5.The sun and wind can evaporate the water faster
  6. 6.Moving air, as wind carrying clouds
  7. 7.The sun's heat makes the water evaporate faster

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