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Year 6 Geography — The water cycle

Name the four stages of the water cycle, put them in order, and explain where rain comes from and why the earth never runs out of water.

Name: ________________________

  1. 1.What keeps the whole water cycle going?

    • a) The wind blowing across the land
    • b) Heat from the sun
    • c) The rivers pushing water back uphill
    • d) The weight of the clouds

  2. 2.Water in a lake is warmed by the sun, turns into vapour and rises into the air. What is that stage called?

  3. 3.Match each stage of the water cycle to what happens in it.

    • Evaporation
    • Condensation
    • Precipitation
    • Collection
    • Liquid water turns into vapour and rises
    • Vapour cools and turns back into tiny droplets
    • Water falls from a cloud as rain, snow or hail
    • Water gathers in seas and lakes, or soaks into the ground

  4. 4.Sort each one by whether it puts water into the air or takes water out of it.

    Groups: Puts water into the air · Takes water out of the air

    • Snow falling on a mountain
    • A lake warming in the sun
    • A puddle drying up after the rain has stopped
    • Vapour cooling into the droplets of a cloud
    • Rain falling on a field
    • Water leaving the leaves of a tree

  5. 5.Why do clouds form high in the sky rather than just above the ground?

    • a) Clouds are pushed up there by the wind after they have formed
    • b) The air is colder up there, so rising vapour cools and turns back into droplets
    • c) Water vapour is too heavy to stay near the ground
    • d) The sun burns away any cloud that forms lower down

  6. 6.Tap the place in this picture where condensation is happening.

    Write the number of the part.

    123456

  7. 7.Trees and plants give off water vapour from their leaves, adding to the vapour in the air. What is that called?

  8. 8.The water cycle has no true beginning — it goes round and round. Starting with evaporation, put its four stages in the order they follow one another.

    • Collection
    • Condensation
    • Precipitation
    • Evaporation

Answer key — Year 6 Geography — The water cycle

  1. 1. b) Heat from the sun
  2. 2. evaporation
  3. 3. Evaporation → Liquid water turns into vapour and rises; Condensation → Vapour cools and turns back into tiny droplets; Precipitation → Water falls from a cloud as rain, snow or hail; Collection → Water gathers in seas and lakes, or soaks into the ground
  4. 4. A lake warming in the sun → Puts water into the air; Rain falling on a field → Takes water out of the air; Vapour cooling into the droplets of a cloud → Takes water out of the air; Water leaving the leaves of a tree → Puts water into the air; Snow falling on a mountain → Takes water out of the air; A puddle drying up after the rain has stopped → Puts water into the air
  5. 5. b) The air is colder up there, so rising vapour cools and turns back into droplets
  6. 6. 3 — The cloud
  7. 7. transpiration
  8. 8. 1. Evaporation 2. Condensation 3. Precipitation 4. Collection