Where Is Earth's Water Found?
Where Is Earth's Water Found? is a free, printable Grade 5 Science worksheet — 6 questions with an answer key, aligned to NGSS 5-ESS2-2. Lessonpress generated it in about a minute, and you can make your own for any K–5 grade, standard, or skill.
Describe and graph the amounts and percentages of water and fresh water in various reservoirs to provide evidence about the distribution of water on Earth.
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Answer key
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- 1.
The bar graph below shows the approximate percentage of Earth's total water found in three major locations. Use the graph to answer the questions that follow. Question A: Which location holds the greatest amount of Earth's water? Question B: About how much more of Earth's water is found in oceans than in ice caps and glaciers? Show your work.
Answer: A: Oceans hold the greatest amount, about 97%. B: 97% - 2% = 95% more of Earth's water is in oceans than in ice caps and glaciers.
- 2.
About 97% of Earth's water is found in the oceans. This water is not suitable for drinking without special treatment. What is the main reason ocean water cannot be used directly as drinking water?
Answer: It contains high levels of dissolved salt.
- 3.
Fill in the table to compare three main locations where Earth's water is found. Use what you have learned about the distribution of Earth's water.
Answer: Oceans: ~97%, salt water, no, Pacific Ocean | Ice Caps and Glaciers: ~2%, fresh water, not directly accessible (frozen), Antarctica | Other Fresh Water: ~1%, fresh water, yes (rivers and lakes), Amazon River
- 4.
Although about 3% of Earth's water is fresh water, most of it is locked in ice caps and glaciers. Explain why this is a problem for people who need fresh water for drinking, farming, and everyday use. Use evidence from what you know about the distribution of Earth's water in your answer.
Answer: Most of Earth's fresh water (about 2 out of the 3%) is frozen in ice caps and glaciers and cannot easily be used by people. Only about 1% of all Earth's water is liquid fresh water available in rivers, lakes, and groundwater. This means the supply of usable fresh water is very small compared to the total amount of water on Earth, making it important to conserve and protect that limited resource.
- 5.
Priya is researching Earth's water for a science project. She finds that Earth has approximately 1,386,000,000 cubic kilometers of water in total. About 97% is in the oceans and about 2% is locked in ice caps and glaciers. Step 1: Calculate the approximate volume of water in the oceans. Step 2: Calculate the approximate volume of water in ice caps and glaciers. Round each answer to the nearest whole number of cubic kilometers.
Answer: Step 1: Oceans = 97% of 1,386,000,000 = 0.97 x 1,386,000,000 = 1,344,420,000 cubic kilometers. Step 2: Ice caps and glaciers = 2% of 1,386,000,000 = 0.02 x 1,386,000,000 = 27,720,000 cubic kilometers.
- 6.
Imani says: 'If global temperatures rise and ice caps begin to melt, the amount of liquid fresh water available on Earth would increase.' Do you agree or disagree with Imani's claim? Explain your reasoning using what you know about where Earth's water is stored and how water moves between locations.
Answer: Imani is partly correct, but it is more complicated. Ice caps and glaciers currently store about 2% of Earth's total water in frozen form. If temperatures rise and this ice melts, some of that frozen fresh water would become liquid, so in the short term the amount of liquid fresh water in some places could increase. However, much of the melt water would flow into the oceans, mixing with salt water and becoming unusable for drinking. So while liquid water amounts might temporarily increase, the amount of usable fresh water would not necessarily increase in the long run, and sea levels would also rise.
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What grade is the "Where Is Earth's Water Found?" worksheet for?
Grade 5. It's calibrated to the Grade 5 reading load and content, and aligned to NGSS 5-ESS2-2.
What standard does this Science worksheet cover?
NGSS 5-ESS2-2, from the Next Generation Science Standards: Describe and graph the amounts and percentages of water and fresh water in various reservoirs to provide evidence about the distribution of water on Earth.
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