The Water Cycle: Pathways, Stores & Drivers — Practice · Grade 6 Science

Chapter: Water, Air, Weather & Climate

What this practice covers

By the end of The Water Cycle: Pathways, Stores & Drivers you should be able to:

8 questions, written answer and multiple choice, each with a worked explanation.

Vocabulary used: infiltration, transpiration, evidence, system boundary, uncertainty.

Problem 1

Which stage changes gas to liquid?
Answer and explanation

Condensation. Rainfall is a later transport pathway; water vapor itself is ordinarily invisible.

Compare the scientific meaning and reasoning after an independent attempt. A different accurate supported response can be correct; human review is required.

Problem 2

Why can water remain in the ground for a long interval?
Answer and explanation

Storage and flow depend on pore connections, geology, gradients, and conditions; a cycle does not require rapid circulation.

Compare the scientific meaning and reasoning after an independent attempt. A different accurate supported response can be correct; human review is required.

Problem 3

Does runoff require water to boil?
Answer and explanation

No. It is movement of liquid over a surface, often influenced by gravity, not a boiling process.

Compare the scientific meaning and reasoning after an independent attempt. A different accurate supported response can be correct; human review is required.

Problem 4

Why must the interval be stated?
Answer and explanation

Pathways and storage continue to change. An immediate rain account and a week-long account can include different transfers.

Compare the scientific meaning and reasoning after an independent attempt. A different accurate supported response can be correct; human review is required.

Problem 5

Develop a complete response: Check the account and explain what a missing transfer would change. Include relevant evidence and one method or model limit.
Answer and explanation

35 + 25 + 20 = 80 mm, so the listed terms match the input under the model. Increased storage is not an outgoing flow. If unrecorded groundwater entered or left, the account would need that transfer; balance here does not prove every real pathway was measured.

Compare the scientific meaning and reasoning after an independent attempt. A different accurate supported response can be correct; human review is required.

Problem 6

Apply the unit independently: A diagram requires every rain drop to enter a plant before returning to the ocean. Is that a complete pathway model? Give a reason and a relevant qualification.
Answer and explanation

No. Runoff, groundwater flow, evaporation, and other routes can bypass plant uptake. Show alternatives rather than one compulsory route.

Compare the scientific meaning and reasoning after an independent attempt. A different accurate supported response can be correct; human review is required.

Problem 7

Which statement correctly uses infiltration in The Water Cycle: Pathways, Stores & Drivers?
  1. Every water particle follows one identical circular route.
  2. infiltration: Water entering spaces in soil or other ground material.
  3. A cloud is simply a mass of visible water vapor.
  4. One illustrative result establishes every real condition and needs no further evidence.
Answer and explanation

infiltration: Water entering spaces in soil or other ground material.

Water entering spaces in soil or other ground material. 35 + 25 + 20 = 80 mm, so the listed terms match the input under the model. Increased storage is not an outgoing flow. If unrecorded groundwater entered or left, the account would need that transfer; balance here does not prove every real pathway was measured.

Problem 8

Which statement correctly uses transpiration in The Water Cycle: Pathways, Stores & Drivers?
  1. A cloud is simply a mass of visible water vapor.
  2. Every water particle follows one identical circular route.
  3. transpiration: Water passing through plants and entering the atmosphere as vapor.
  4. One illustrative result establishes every real condition and needs no further evidence.
Answer and explanation

transpiration: Water passing through plants and entering the atmosphere as vapor.

Water passing through plants and entering the atmosphere as vapor. 35 + 25 + 20 = 80 mm, so the listed terms match the input under the model. Increased storage is not an outgoing flow. If unrecorded groundwater entered or left, the account would need that transfer; balance here does not prove every real pathway was measured.

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