Here Comes the Sun

Focused on Science

Role of Sun (Energy, Plants, Winds, and Water Cycle)

Here Comes the Sun

Follow these steps to complete these folder activities:

1. Take a student sheet out of the folder.

2. Write your name and home room number in the blanks.

3. Read the passage about the sun.

4. To answer the questions, arrange the letters that are in the column headings in the blank spaces below each heading so that the letters spell out words (and the answer to the question) horizontally. Some words may extend from one line down to the next line.

5. Check your answers.

Here Comes the Sun

Directions: Read the passage below. Then solve the puzzles on the following pages to answer the questions.

The sun—we see it every day; we feel its effects constantly; but how important is the sun to everything that exists on the Earth? The sun is the main source of heat and light for life on Earth. Its light and warmth provide energy for growing plants, and even makes all life possible. How else is the sun important to the Earth?

The sun is the most important factor in the development of weather patterns on the Earth’s surface. The sun influences Earth’s weather in two ways. First, Earth’s land and water are warmed by the sun’s energy. Because land heats up and cools down more quickly than water, the air above the land heats and cools more quickly than the air above large bodies of water. Warm air is less dense than cold air, so it rises. As warm air rises, it cools and becomes denser. Then the cool, dense air sinks. The movement of air from places where it is dense (cool) to places where it is less dense (warm) is called wind. Temperature differences between mountains and valleys and between land and sea cause local winds. Prevailing winds are caused by the movement of air between the equator and the poles.

The second way in which the sun influences Earth’s weather is through the water cycle. As the sun warms the Earth’s surface, water evaporates from the oceans into the air. The warmer the air, the more moisture it can hold. As the warm, moist air rises, it cools and the vapor in the air condenses, forming clouds or fog. When the droplets in the cloud become too large to be suspended, they fall as precipitation.

Name Home Room

Here Comes the Sun

1. Why is the sun so important?

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2. In what two ways does the sun affect the weather on the Earth?

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3. What causes wind?

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4. How do clouds form?

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Here Comes the Sun

Answer Key

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M / O / S / T / A / L / L / O / F / T / H
E / E / N / E / R / G / Y / F / O / U / N / D
O / N / T / H / E / E / A / R / T / H

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R / M / S / T / H / E / E / A / R / T / H / C / A / U / S / I
N / G / W / I / N / D / S / A / N / D / A / F / F / E / C / T
I / N / G / T / H / E / W / A / T / E / R / C / Y / C / L / E

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E / M / O / V / E / M / E / N / T / O / F / A / I / R / F / R
O / M / P / L / A / C / E / S / W / H / E / R / E / I / T / I
S / D / E / N / S / E / T / O / P / L / A / C / E / S / W / H
E / R / E / I / T / I / S / L / E / S / S / D / E / N / S / E
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F / O / R / M / C / L / O / U / D / S