Where Does Rain Come From?
A short science text about the water cycle, with eight questions on key words, cause and effect, and summarising.
Read the passage
Round and round
The water on Earth is always moving. It travels from the sea to the sky, down to the ground and back again. This journey is called the water cycle, and it has been going on for billions of years.
Up into the sky
When the sun warms the sea, lakes and rivers, some of the water turns into an invisible gas called water vapour. This is called evaporation. The warm water vapour rises into the air.
Making clouds
High in the sky, the air is much colder. The water vapour cools down and turns back into tiny drops of liquid water. This is called condensation. Millions of these tiny drops gather together to make a cloud. A cloud may look solid, but it is really a huge crowd of floating drops.
Falling down
When the drops in a cloud become too heavy, they fall as rain, snow or hail. This is called precipitation. The water runs into streams and rivers, or soaks into the soil, and flows back to the sea. Then the whole cycle begins again. After heavy rain, rivers can fill quickly, which is why some places flood.
Answer the questions
- What is the journey that water makes from the sea to the sky and back again called? (1 mark)
- What does the sun’s warmth turn some of the water into? (1 mark)
- The text calls water vapour “invisible”. What does “invisible” mean? (1 mark)
- Match each word to its meaning by writing the correct letter. (3 marks)1. evaporation 2. condensation 3. precipitationA. water falling as rain, snow or hailB. water vapour cooling into tiny dropsC. liquid water turning into water vapour
- Why is it important that the air high in the sky is much colder? (2 marks)
- The text says the water cycle “has been going on for billions of years”. What does this suggest about the water we drink today? (2 marks)
- Name two things that can fall from a cloud when the drops get too heavy. (1 mark)
- Write one or two sentences to explain how a cloud is made. (2 marks)
Answer key for parents and teachers
1. The water cycle. (1 mark)
Finding information (2b). Finding the key term the whole text is about.
2. Water vapour (an invisible gas). (1 mark)
Finding information (2b). Retrieval from the second section.
3. It cannot be seen. (1 mark)
Word meaning (2a). Working out the meaning of a word from how it is used.
4. 1 = C, 2 = B, 3 = A (3 marks)
Finding information (2b). The three key words in the water cycle, matched to what each one means.
5. The cold air cools the water vapour so it turns back into drops of water, which makes clouds. (2 marks)
Explaining from the text. A cause-and-effect link that spans two sentences.
6. It is extremely old: the same water has been through the cycle many, many times before (accept: it has been recycled). (2 marks)
Inference (2d). The text never says this directly. The child thinks about what a very long cycle implies.
7. Any two of rain, snow and hail. (1 mark)
Finding information (2b). A quick retrieval from the last section.
8. One mark for water vapour rising and cooling in the cold air; one mark for it turning into tiny drops that gather together to form a cloud. (2 marks)
Summarising (2c). Summarising a process from across two sections.
What this practises
Finding information (2b), Word meaning (2a), Explaining from the text, Inference (2d), Summarising (2c). The codes in brackets are the reading content domains from the national curriculum test framework. Marks and answers are a guide: accept any sensible answer that is backed up by the text.
Now try the writing task
Pretend you are a drop of water travelling around the water cycle. Write about your journey.
Aim for eight to twelve sentences. Read it back aloud together and fix anything that does not sound right.
Want feedback on your child's own writing?
You mark the worksheet yourself with the answer key. LiteracyLab AI is different: it reads what your child has written and gives specific feedback, such as what worked, one thing to try next, and a corrected version, matched to their year. The Free plan includes 3 pieces a month and needs no card.
More Year 4 worksheets
Free to print and copy for your own family or classroom. Please do not sell or republish. The passage and questions were written for LiteracyLab AI.