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What the Sun Does to the Ground is a free printable Kindergarten science worksheet on observing the effect of sunlight on a surface, aligned to NGSS performance expectation K-PS3-1. 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 5 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.

What the Sun Does to the Ground

K-PS3-1

NameDate

Read the record, then answer the questions.

1.Read the record, then answer the questions.

The Sunny Step and the Shady Step

What we measured on two steps at noon, on a sunny day in June. TWO STEPS AT NOON Step in the sun ...... 28 degrees. It felt hot. Step in the shade .... 19 degrees. It felt cool. Both steps are made of the same stone. We measured both at the same time.

  1. 1. How warm was the step in the sun?
  2. 2. What would the shady step do if the shade moved away?
  3. 3. What was kept the same in this test?
2.Ice cubes are put on a sunny step and a shady step. Which melt first?
  • A.They never melt
  • B.The ones on the shady step
  • C.The ones on the sunny step
3.What does sunlight do to the things it lands on?
  • A.It cools them
  • B.It warms them
  • C.It makes them heavier
4.A puddle in the sun dries up before a puddle in the shade. Why?
  • A.The shady puddle is deeper
  • B.Sunlight warms the sunny puddle, so it dries faster
  • C.Puddles in the sun are smaller
5.A slide stands in the sun all morning. How does it feel at noon?
  • A.Icy cold
  • B.Wet
  • C.Warm, because sunlight has been falling on it
6.Why is a metal bench in the sun too hot to sit on?
  • A.Metal is always hot
  • B.Somebody heated it
  • C.Sunlight has been warming it
7.A cloud covers the sun for an hour. What happens to the ground?
  • A.It warms less, because less sunlight reaches it
  • B.It gets wet
  • C.It gets hotter

LessonPrint · K-PS3-1 · Set 5 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — What the Sun Does to the Ground

Set 5. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. 28 degrees. 2. It would get warmer, because sunlight would fall on it. 3. Both steps are made of the same stone and were measured at the same time.
  2. 2.The ones on the sunny step
  3. 3.It warms them
  4. 4.Sunlight warms the sunny puddle, so it dries faster
  5. 5.Warm, because sunlight has been falling on it
  6. 6.Sunlight has been warming it
  7. 7.It warms less, because less sunlight reaches it

More practice for K-PS3-1

Find out what sunlight does to the ground.

Teaching this next? What the Sun Does to the Ground is the 45-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.

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Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to K-PS3-1 of the Next Generation Science Standards.