Salt Water vs Fresh Water · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

Salt water and fresh water on Earth

Science · Earth's Systems · ages 10-11
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. Which of these is NOT a place where fresh water is found?

    • Glaciers and ice caps
    • Groundwater
    • The ocean

  2. Where is MOST of Earth's fresh water stored?

    • Frozen in glaciers and ice caps
    • Underground as groundwater
    • In rivers and lakes

  3. Where is almost all of Earth's salt water found?

    • In rivers and lakes
    • In the oceans
    • In glaciers and ice caps

  4. Which of these holds the LEAST amount of Earth's fresh water?

    • Glaciers and ice caps
    • Groundwater
    • Rivers and lakes

  5. Look at the graph. Two bars show salt water and fresh water. Which bar is the salt water bar?

    A97B3
    • Bar A, the tall one
    • Bar B, the short one
    • Both bars are the same

  6. Mia says most of Earth's fresh water flows in rivers and lakes. What should you tell her?

    • She is right, rivers and lakes hold the most
    • Most fresh water is in the ocean
    • Most fresh water is frozen in glaciers and ice caps

  7. Mia shades a grid of 100 squares to show where Earth's fresh water is stored. About how many squares should she shade for groundwater?

    Answer: ______________

  8. True or false: there is more fresh water in rivers and lakes than underground as groundwater.

    Circle one:   True   False

  9. Zara graphs Earth's fresh water, but she draws the rivers and lakes bar the tallest. What should her graph show instead?

    Rivers/lakes68Groundwater30Glaciers/ice2
    • Glaciers and ice caps should have the tallest bar
    • The rivers and lakes bar should stay tallest
    • All three bars should be the same height

  10. True or false: on a correct graph of Earth's water, the salt water bar is about three times as tall as the fresh water bar.

    Circle one:   True   False

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Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Salt water and fresh water on Earth W1-mt_LsY4-T2fU7-s1

  1. The ocean · The ocean holds salt water. Fresh water is found in glaciers and ice caps, underground as groundwater, and in rivers and lakes.
  2. Frozen in glaciers and ice caps · Most of Earth's fresh water is frozen solid in glaciers and ice caps.
  3. In the oceans · Almost all of Earth's salt water is in the oceans. Glaciers, rivers, and lakes hold fresh water.
  4. Rivers and lakes · Rivers and lakes hold only a small sliver of Earth's fresh water compared to ice and groundwater.
  5. Bar A, the tall one · The salt water bar is much taller, since salt water makes up about 97% of Earth's water.
  6. Most fresh water is frozen in glaciers and ice caps · Rivers and lakes hold only a small part of fresh water. Most of it is frozen in glaciers and ice caps.
  7. 30 · Out of every 100 parts of fresh water, about 30 are groundwater.
  8. False · Groundwater holds much more fresh water than rivers and lakes: about 30 parts out of 100 compared to about 2.
  9. Glaciers and ice caps should have the tallest bar · Most fresh water is frozen in glaciers and ice caps, so that bar should be the tallest one on the graph.
  10. False · Salt water is about 97% and fresh water about 3%, so the salt water bar is far more than three times taller.
Worksheet · LightMySky