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Grade 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.Rain, snow and hail all fall from clouds to the ground. What is the one word that covers all three?

  2. 2.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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Write the number of the part.

    123456

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

  8. 8.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
    • A lake warming in the sun
    • Vapor cooling into the droplets of a cloud
    • A puddle drying up after the rain has stopped
    • Snow falling on a mountain
    • Water leaving the leaves of a tree

Answer key — Grade 6 Geography — The water cycle

  1. 1. precipitation
  2. 2. 1. Evaporation 2. Condensation 3. Precipitation 4. Collection
  3. 3. c) The air is colder up there, so rising vapor cools and turns back into droplets
  4. 4. c) Only the water rises as vapor, and the salt is left behind in the sea
  5. 5. d) Heat from the sun
  6. 6. 3 — The cloud
  7. 7. evaporation
  8. 8. A lake warming in the sun → Puts water into the air; Rain falling on a field → Takes water out of the air; Vapor 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