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Year 5 Science — Water — the essence of life

Name the forms water takes, follow it round the water cycle, tell groundwater from surface water, and recognise the plants and animals that live in freshwater.

Name: ________________________

Before you start

A stretch of land that water has shaped, and the name of each part of it.

123456
  1. 1. Ice cap
  2. 2. Glacier
  3. 3. Waterfall
  4. 4. River
  5. 5. Lake
  6. 6. Forest

Water is doing the same thing at each of these: coming down off the high ground and gathering in the low. The ice cap and the glacier are it held as solid; the waterfall, the river and the lake are it moving and pooling.

  1. 1.Rain falls on each of these. Sort them by whether the rain can soak through into the ground.

    Groups: Lets rainwater soak in · Keeps rainwater out

    • A soak pit
    • Ground planted with trees
    • A paved area
    • A concrete road
    • A green lawn

  2. 2.A village digs wells, borewells, tube wells and handpumps. What are these for?

    • a) Holding water back to form a lake
    • b) Making salty water fit for drinking
    • c) Drawing up water stored under the ground
    • d) Carrying rainwater away from the fields

  3. 3.Water rises as vapour, gathers as cloud, falls again and runs back to the sea, over and over. What two-word name does this circular movement have?

  4. 4.Rain is falling on this piece of land. Tap the groundwater — the water that has sunk down and is stored deep below the surface.

    Write the number of the part.

    12345

  5. 5.Sort each of these by the form of water it is.

    Groups: Solid · Liquid · Vapour

    • Snow
    • Steam
    • Rain
    • Ice

  6. 6.Imagine the whole of the Earth's water poured into one glass. About how much of that glassful would be freshwater?

    • a) Nearly the whole glass
    • b) About half the glass
    • c) About a teaspoonful
    • d) About a quarter of the glass

  7. 7.Why can the greater part of the water on Earth not be used for drinking?

    • a) Most of it is held inside plants and animals
    • b) Most of it is salty sea water
    • c) Most of it is frozen into ice caps
    • d) Most of it is stored too deep underground

  8. 8.Rain soaks into the soil and sinks down through soil and rock until it is stored deep below. What is that stored water called?

Answer key — Year 5 Science — Water — the essence of life

  1. 1. A green lawn → Lets rainwater soak in; A soak pit → Lets rainwater soak in; Ground planted with trees → Lets rainwater soak in; A concrete road → Keeps rainwater out; A paved area → Keeps rainwater out
  2. 2. c) Drawing up water stored under the ground
  3. 3.
    • water cycle
    • the water cycle
  4. 4. 4 — Groundwater
  5. 5. Ice → Solid; Snow → Solid; Rain → Liquid; Steam → Vapour
  6. 6. c) About a teaspoonful
  7. 7. b) Most of it is salty sea water
  8. 8.
    • groundwater
    • ground water