Why a Fish Tank Needs Plants and Snails, Read and Answer

Ask your child to guess where a big tree gets its weight before reading the willow page, then compare. If you have a fish tank or a potted plant, list who gives what to whom. The answer key gives sample written answers.

Read how fish, plants, snails and bacteria in a class fish tank pass gases and nutrients around a cycle. Tank gravel is a layer of small stones on the bottom of a fish tank. The directions on the page read: Read the passage. Then, turn the page and answer the questions. On page 2: Circle the letter of the best answer for questions 1 to 3, and write the answers to questions 4 to 6 on the lines. The answer key covers the questions on page 2.

Yes, both. We made it for 5th Grade ecosystems, and the page works the same whether it lands on a kitchen table or a center rotation. At home, most families go through it together and talk the answers out loud, and that talking is where most of the learning happens with matter cycles. In class it runs well as independent work while you pull a small group. Print one copy or thirty, whichever the day needs.

Mostly from air and water, not soil. Leaves take in carbon dioxide, roots take in water, and the tree uses sunlight to join them into sugar that it builds wood from. Soil adds only a few nutrients.

About 400 years ago, Jan van Helmont grew a willow in a pot of weighed soil for five years and gave it only rainwater. The tree gained about 160 pounds, but the soil lost only about 2 ounces, so the tree's new matter did not come from the soil.

Plants give off oxygen and use the carbon dioxide fish breathe out. Snails eat algae on the glass, and bacteria in the gravel turn waste into nutrients for the plants. Each living thing needs the others, like a tiny pond.

Yes. All three matter cycles sheets have an answer key, with sample answers for the questions children answer in their own words.

3 printable worksheets, all free to preview. Downloads are included with a ClassWeekly free trial, and every page prints on standard 8.5 x 11 paper.

These are written for 5th Grade students, roughly ages 10-11. Many teachers also use them a grade up for review or a grade down as an extension, so use the preview to judge the fit for a particular child.

Yes. Each one shows the NGSS code it covers on its own page, so you can check the alignment yourself rather than taking our word for it.