This 5-page 4th grade science worksheet tells the water cycle as a story. Drip the water drop starts in the Pacific Ocean, evaporates, cools into a cloud, falls as snow on a mountain, melts in spring and flows down a river back to the ocean. Page 1 is the story. Pages 2 to 4 hold nine questions, from finding facts to drawing and labeling a cycle diagram. Page 5 is the answer key.
“Read a science text and find facts about each stage of the water cycle.”
Questions 1 to 3 ask for the starting place, the four stages in a table and the meaning of runoff.
“Explain why water falls as snow, why salt stays behind and what makes water flow downhill.”
Questions 4, 6 and 7 ask for these three explanations.
“Show the water cycle as a labeled diagram.”
Question 9 gives four boxes and arrows for the four main stages.
A four-paragraph story told by Drip, with water vapor, evaporation, condensation, precipitation, runoff and collection in bold. A picture shows a mountain, a river and the ocean.
Four questions. Students say where Drip began and what gave it energy, match four events to evaporation, condensation, precipitation or collection in a table, choose the meaning of runoff, and explain why Drip fell as snow.
A true or false item asks for a phrase from the story as proof. Two more questions ask whether the salt traveled into the cloud and what force pulled Drip down the mountain.
Students choose the most exciting stage and explain why. Then they fill four boxes in a ring of arrows to draw and label Drip's journey.
Full answers for the nine questions, with sample answers where students choose.
Read aloud first
Read the story aloud while students underline the six bold words. After that, they need the text only for questions 5 and 6.
Split the work
Use pages 1 and 2 in a reading block and pages 3 and 4 in science. Questions 5 to 7 ask for evidence from the text, which is a reading skill too.
Plan question 9
Let students sketch the four stages on scrap paper first, then copy them into the boxes. They can start at any box, since the arrows run clockwise.
Get started today
