Download Precipitation

North Carolina Testing Program
EOG Reading Grade 5 Sample Items
Do you know where rain comes from? Read the following selection to learn more about
precipitation. Then answer the questions that follow.
Precipitation
In Arica, Chile, the average rainfall is
less than 1 millimeter per year. Many years
pass with no precipitation at all. On the
other hand, the average rainfall on
Mount Waialeale on the island of Kauai in
Hawaii is over 12 meters per year. That’s
more than enough to cover a three-story
house! As you can see, rainfall varies greatly
around the world.
Water evaporates into the air from
every water surface on Earth and from living
things. This water eventually returns to the
surface as precipitation. Precipitation (pree
sip uh TAY shun) is any form of water that
falls from clouds and reaches Earth’s surface.
3
Precipitation always comes from
clouds. But not all clouds produce
precipitation. For precipitation to occur,
cloud droplets or ice crystals must grow heavy
enough to fall through the air. One way that
cloud droplets grow is by colliding and
combining with other cloud droplets. As the
droplets grow larger, they fall faster and
collect more and more small droplets.
Finally, the droplets become heavy enough to
fall out of the cloud as raindrops.
Types of Precipitation
In warm parts of the world,
precipitation is almost always rain or drizzle.
In colder regions, precipitation may fall as
snow or ice. Common types of precipitation
include rain, sleet, freezing rain, hail, and
snow.
Rain The most common kind of precipitation
is rain. Drops of water are called rain if they
are at least 0.5 millimeter in diameter.
Precipitation made up of smaller drops of
water is called mist or drizzle. Mist and
drizzle usually fall from stratus clouds.
Sleet Sometimes raindrops fall through a
layer of air below 0°C, the freezing point of
water. As they fall, the raindrops freeze into
solid particles of ice. Ice particles smaller
than 5 millimeters in diameter are called
sleet.
Freezing Rain At other times raindrops
falling through cold air near the ground do
not freeze in the air. Instead, the raindrops
freeze when they touch a cold surface. This is
called freezing rain. In an ice storm, a
smooth, thick layer of ice builds up on every
surface. The weight
Droplets come in many sizes. Believe it or not, a raindrop has
of the ice may break
about a million times as much water in it as a cloud droplet.
tree branches onto
power lines, causing
power failures.
Freezing rain and
sleet can make
sidewalks and
roads slippery and
dangerous.
Cloud
droplet
Page 1
Mist
droplet
Drizzle
droplet
Raindrop
Published January 2004. May reproduce for instructional and
educational purposes only, not for personal or financial gain.
North Carolina Testing Program
Hail Round pellets of ice larger than
5 millimeters in diameter are called
hailstones. Hail forms only inside
cumulonimbus clouds during thunderstorms.
A hailstone starts as an ice pellet inside a
cold region of a cloud. Strong updrafts in the
cloud carry the hailstone up and down
through the cold region many times. Each
time the hailstone goes through the cold
region, a new layer of ice forms around the
hailstone. Eventually the hailstone becomes
heavy enough to fall to the ground. If you
cut a hailstone in half, you can often see
shells of ice, like the layers of an onion.
Because hailstones can grow quite large
before finally falling to the ground, hail can
cause tremendous damage to crops,
buildings, and vehicles.
EOG Reading Grade 5 Sample Items
Snow Often water vapor in a cloud is
converted directly into ice crystals called
snowflakes. Snowflakes have an endless
number of different shapes and patterns, all
with six sides or branches. Snowflakes often
join together into larger clumps of snow in
which the six-sided crystals are hard to see.
“Precipitation” from Prentice Hall Science Explorers Weather and Climate © 2000 by Pearson Education, Inc.,
publishing as Pearson Prentice Hall. Used by permission.
1.
Page 2
Which word best describes the habitat
around Arica, Chile?
A
desert
B
forest
C
grassland
D
wetland
2.
What has to happen in order for
precipitation to occur?
A
The cloud droplets have to be
heavy enough to fall.
B
The cloud has to be a
cumulonimbus or stratus.
C
The cloud has to have several
strong updrafts.
D
The temperature of the cloud has
to be at least 0°C.
Published January 2004. May reproduce for instructional and
educational purposes only, not for personal or financial gain.
North Carolina Testing Program
3.
4.
5.
Which of the following determines
whether precipitation will come as
rain or as sleet?
6.
What is the purpose of comparing a
hailstone to an onion?
A
to show how hailstones are
layered
A
the amount of wind
B
the size of the clouds
B
to illustrate the size of hailstones
C
the type of clouds
C
to show the weight of hailstones
D
the air temperature
D
to describe the damage caused by
hail
What is it called when precipitation
becomes icy only after touching the
sidewalk?
7.
Which of the following describes a
snowflake?
A
snow
A
a frozen drizzle
B
sleet
B
several layers of ice
C
hail
C
a six-sided ice crystal
D
freezing rain
D
a round pellet of ice
What makes some hailstones larger
than other hailstones?
A
B
Page 3
EOG Reading Grade 5 Sample Items
Larger hailstones occur when the
air temperature is much colder.
Larger hailstones occur when the
ground temperature is much
colder.
C
Larger hailstones have moved
more times through the cold
region of a cloud.
D
Larger hailstones form in
cumulonimbus clouds, but
smaller hailstones do not.
8.
Based on the information given, which
of the following is the smallest?
A
a mist droplet
B
a drizzle droplet
C
a cloud droplet
D
a rain droplet
Published January 2004. May reproduce for instructional and
educational purposes only, not for personal or financial gain.
North Carolina Testing Program
9.
EOG Reading Grade 5 Sample Items
What do sleet and snow have in
common?
A
Both are made up of ice.
B
Both are produced by huge
clouds.
C
Both are six-sided crystals.
D
Both develop from raindrops.
End of Set
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Published January 2004. May reproduce for instructional and
educational purposes only, not for personal or financial gain.
Answers to
Grade 5 Reading Comprehension Sample Items
Passage Title
Question
Number
Correct
Answer
Category
Thinking Skill
Objective
Number
Precipitation
1
A
Connections
Analyzing
2.02
Precipitation
2
A
Cognition
Knowledge
2.02
Precipitation
3
D
Interpretation
Analyzing
2.05
Precipitation
4
D
Cognition
Knowledge
2.02
Precipitation
5
C
Cognition
Knowledge
2.02
Precipitation
6
A
Critical Stance
Evaluating
3.01
Precipitation
7
C
Cognition
Knowledge
2.02
Precipitation
8
C
Cognition
Knowledge
2.02
Precipitation
9
A
Critical Stance
Organizing
2.02
Friday, January 23, 2004
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