3rd grade · Social Studies · Unit 1 of 6
Needs Around the World
Homes, food and clothes everywhere
What your child practices
Everyone needs food, water, shelter and clothing. How people in different places meet these needs using what the land and climate offer, and why caring for the land matters.
Alaska content standards learning standard: SS.3.1.11.1; SS.3.2.11.1 · natural resources and capital, and how people specialize and trade to meet their needs
How we explain it
Children can open this short lesson before they practice.
- Everyone needs food, water, shelter and clothing.
- People meet their needs with what their land and weather give them.
- When people can't grow or make something, they trade for it.
Example: Why do people in very hot places often wear loose, light clothes? Clothing is a need, and it has to suit the weather. Loose, light clothes let air move and keep people cool. Answer: to stay cool in the heat
Needs Around the World in Alaska
In the Alaska content standards, this is unit 1 of 6 in 3rd grade Social Studies, before Working Together Fairly.
Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.
- 3rd grade guide for Alaska parents
- Printable 3rd grade Social Studies sheet
- Alaska report cards explained
Source: Alaska Department of Education and Early Development
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
Families in a community beside the ocean might get food by…
- 🎣fishing
- 🌵picking cactus fruit
- 🐪herding camels
🎣 fishing
Hint: People use what is nearby. The ocean is full of fish and seafood.
Question 2
Which is a natural resource from the land?
- 🧸a plastic toy
- 🌲trees for wood
- 🎮a video game
🌲 trees for wood
Hint: Natural resources come from nature, like trees, water, soil and fish.
Question 3
People in a dry place with very little rain might get water from…
🏜️- a glacier on the roof
- a frozen lake
- a deep well under the ground
a deep well under the ground
Hint: Even in dry places, water can be stored deep under the ground. A well lets people reach it.
Question 4
How are people all over the world the same?
🤝- everyone lives in the same kind of house
- everyone needs food, water and a safe home
- everyone eats the same food
everyone needs food, water and a safe home
Hint: People meet their needs in different ways, but the needs themselves are the same everywhere.
Question 5
Rice grows best in places that are…
🌾- dry and sandy
- warm and wet
- cold and icy
warm and wet
Hint: Rice plants need lots of water and warm weather. Many rice fields are flooded with water.
Question 6
Look at the table. Which home would suit the rainforest town best?
Weather in different places Place Weather ❄️ Arctic town long, very cold winters 🌴 rainforest town hot and rainy all year 🏔️ mountain town lots of heavy snow 🌧️ river town floods in the rainy season - a steep roof so snow slides off
- a house raised up on stilts
- open windows and a wide roof for shade and rain
- lots of insulation to keep heat in
open windows and a wide roof for shade and rain
Hint: The rainforest town has hot and rainy all year. Pick the home that helps with that kind of weather.