Grade 3 · Science · Unit 7 of 7
Soil and Living Things
Farming, compost and taking care of soil
What your child practises
How plants, worms and other animals depend on soil, how soil depends on them, farming and compost on the prairies, and ways to protect soil from wind and water.
Saskatchewan Curriculum outcome: ES3.2 · how soil and living things depend on each other, and why soil matters to people and the environment
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
Dust storms hit farms in the 1930s on the prairies. What was a cause?
🌪️- dry, bare soil blew away
- too much snow
- too many lakes
- too many trees
Show answer
dry, bare soil blew away
Hint: Drought and bare fields let the wind carry soil away.
Question 2
What do plant roots do besides take in water?
🌿- make seeds
- make flowers
- hold the plant in the soil
- make leaves
Show answer
hold the plant in the soil
Hint: Roots anchor a plant.
Question 3
Does it help protect soil or harm soil? Tap an item, then its basket.
Sort into: 🛡️ protects soil · ⚠️ harms soil
- 🌾leaving stubble on a field
- 🗑️dumping garbage on soil
- 👣walking on the same patch every day
- 🌳planting trees as a shelterbelt
- 🌿planting grass
- 🛢️pouring oil on the ground
Show answer
🛡️ protects soil: leaving stubble on a field, planting trees as a shelterbelt, planting grass · ⚠️ harms soil: dumping garbage on soil, walking on the same patch every day, pouring oil on the ground
Hint: Roots, mulch and cover crops hold soil in place. Bare ground and heavy trampling let it blow or wash away.
Question 4
How do plant roots protect soil?
🌿- they dry it out
- they hold it in place
- they dig it up
- they make it blow
Show answer
they hold it in place
Hint: Roots work like a net under the ground.
Question 5
What can happen to bare soil when strong wind blows?
💨- it gets thicker
- the soil blows away
- it grows taller
- it turns to ice
Show answer
the soil blows away
Hint: This is called wind erosion.
Question 6
Why do living things in the soil depend on plants?
🔗- dead plants give them food
- plants have no use
- plants drink them
- plants eat them
Show answer
dead plants give them food
Hint: Rotting plants are food for worms and tiny living things.