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.
Maine Learning Results learning standard: Economics; Geography 1 · how people in different places use resources and climate to decide what to produce
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 Maine
In the Maine Learning Results, this is unit 1 of 6 in 3rd grade Social Studies, before Communities Around the World.
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 Maine parents
- Printable 3rd grade Social Studies sheet
- Maine report cards explained
Source: Maine Department of Education
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…
- 🌵picking cactus fruit
- 🐪herding camels
- 🎣fishing
🎣 fishing
Hint: People use what is nearby. The ocean is full of fish and seafood.
Question 2
Would you need it more in a hot place or a cold place?
Sort into: ☀️ hot, sunny place · ❄️ cold, snowy place
- 🩴sandals
- 🧥warm parka
- 🧣scarf
- 🧴sunscreen
- 🩳shorts
- 🧤mittens
☀️ hot, sunny place: sandals, sunscreen, shorts · ❄️ cold, snowy place: warm parka, scarf, mittens
Hint: People choose clothes that suit the weather where they live.
Question 3
Why is clean water important everywhere?
💧- it is only for washing cars
- it is only used for swimming
- people need it to drink, cook and stay healthy
people need it to drink, cook and stay healthy
Hint: Clean water is a basic need for every person on Earth.
Question 4
Look at the table. Which home would suit the Arctic town best?
Weather in different places Place Weather 🏜️ desert town very hot, dry days ❄️ Arctic town long, very cold winters 🌧️ river town floods in the rainy season 🌴 rainforest town hot and rainy all year - thick walls that keep the inside cool
- lots of insulation to keep heat in
- open windows and a wide roof for shade and rain
- a house raised up on stilts
lots of insulation to keep heat in
Hint: The Arctic town has long, very cold winters. Pick the home that helps with that kind of weather.
Question 5
Why is it important to take care of the land?
🌱- so no one can ever use it
- so it can keep giving us food, water and materials in the future
- so the land never changes
so it can keep giving us food, water and materials in the future
Hint: We depend on the land. Caring for it means it can meet our needs, and the needs of people after us.
Question 6
Which of these uses the land to meet a basic need?
- 🎬watching a movie
- 🎮playing a video game
- 🥕growing vegetables on a farm
🥕 growing vegetables on a farm
Hint: Farms use soil, water and sunlight from the land to grow food.