3rd grade · Social Studies · Unit 1 of 7
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.
New York State Learning Standards learning standard: 3.3a; 3.9b · how geography shapes where people live and how communities around the world 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 New York
In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 1 of 7 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.
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
Why do many homes in snowy places have steep roofs?
🏔️- so the house looks taller
- so birds can land on them
- so heavy snow slides off
so heavy snow slides off
Hint: Snow is heavy! A steep roof lets it slide off instead of piling up.
Question 2
Which is a natural resource from the land?
- 🌲trees for wood
- 🎮a video game
- 🧸a plastic toy
🌲 trees for wood
Hint: Natural resources come from nature, like trees, water, soil and fish.
Question 3
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 4
Why are some homes built up high on stilts?
🌊- to get closer to the clouds
- to stay dry in places that flood
- to make the house easier to paint
to stay dry in places that flood
Hint: In places near rivers or the sea that sometimes flood, stilts keep the house above the water.
Question 5
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 6
Rice grows best in places that are…
🌾- warm and wet
- dry and sandy
- cold and icy
warm and wet
Hint: Rice plants need lots of water and warm weather. Many rice fields are flooded with water.