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Class 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.Sort each of these under the stage of the water cycle it belongs to.

    Groups: Evaporation · Condensation · Precipitation · Collection

    • Droplets join together, grow heavy and fall as rain
    • Tiny droplets gather until a cloud can be seen
    • Rising vapour cools high up and turns back into tiny droplets
    • Snow falls on a mountain top
    • Water gathers in lakes and runs down rivers to the sea
    • Water soaks down into the ground and stays there
    • Wet clothes on a line dry in the sun
    • The sun warms the sea, and water turns into vapour

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

    Write the number of the part.

    123456

  3. 3.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

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

  4. 4.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 gathers in seas and lakes, or soaks into the ground
    • Water falls from a cloud as rain, snow or hail

  5. 5.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
    • Evaporation
    • Precipitation
    • Condensation

  6. 6.Does the earth's water get used up as the cycle turns?

    • a) No — the same water goes round the cycle over and over
    • b) Yes, all of it is used up and new water is made in the clouds
    • c) Yes, a little is lost every time it rains
    • d) No, because the sun adds fresh water to the sea each day

  7. 7.The sea is salty, but rain is not. Why?

    • a) The salt falls out of the cloud before the rain does
    • b) The cold high up turns the salt back into water
    • c) Only the water rises as vapour, and the salt is left behind in the sea
    • d) Rain comes from rivers, and rivers were never salty

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

Answer key — Class 6 Geography — The water cycle

  1. 1. The sun warms the sea, and water turns into vapour → Evaporation; Rising vapour cools high up and turns back into tiny droplets → Condensation; Droplets join together, grow heavy and fall as rain → Precipitation; Water gathers in lakes and runs down rivers to the sea → Collection; Wet clothes on a line dry in the sun → Evaporation; Tiny droplets gather until a cloud can be seen → Condensation; Snow falls on a mountain top → Precipitation; Water soaks down into the ground and stays there → Collection
  2. 2. 3 — The cloud
  3. 3. 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
  4. 4. 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
  5. 5. 1. Evaporation 2. Condensation 3. Precipitation 4. Collection
  6. 6. a) No — the same water goes round the cycle over and over
  7. 7. c) Only the water rises as vapour, and the salt is left behind in the sea
  8. 8. evaporation