Grade 3 · Social Studies · Geography

3rd Grade Natural Resources and Communities worksheets

6 printable versionsOn LevelAbout 9 minutes eachFree · no account

When it’s done, scan the sheet with your phone and PencilGo marks it and picks the next one. Create a free account

★

Tired of searching for worksheets?

We’ll email one free Grade 3 worksheet every school day. Your child does it on paper. No account needed.

Version

Natural Resources and Communities

Grade 3 Social Studies Worksheet

NameDate

Circle the answer.

1.
Which resource in the ground helps a farming town grow crops?
- coal
- stone
- wind
- rich soil
2.
What is one challenge of using sunlight for power?
- It can only be used in winter.
- It makes the air very dirty.
- It makes less power at night.
- It will run out in a few years.
3.
Look at the picture. Many jobs in a town near A come from the water. Which job fits best?
- fishing
- farming wheat
- mining coal
- cutting timber
4.
Why should a town be careful with the fresh water in its river?
- It turns into salt water at night.
- It can get dirty or be used up.
- River water never changes.
- River water is never safe to drink.
5.
Which pair shows a resource and how people use it?
- soil: making electricity
- timber: building houses
- wind: catching fish
- fish: building houses
6.
Which resource can run out if people use too much?
- wind
- sunlight
- coal
- ocean waves
7.
A plains town has strong wind most days. How could it use this resource?
- cut down forests
- build fishing docks
- dig wells for oil
- build wind turbines for power
8.
Look at the picture. Long ago a mill was built beside A. What turned its wheel?
- wind
- sunlight
- burning coal
- moving water
9.
What is one way to protect soil on a farm?
- plow up the grass before storms
- plant grass to hold the soil
- leave the fields bare all year
- dig up all the plants
10.
Why do many towns grow up near rivers?
- Rivers give water and a way to travel.
- Rivers keep towns warm in winter.
- Rivers stop all floods.
- Rivers make the land very dry.

3rd Grade Natural Resources and Communities worksheet 1 – printable PDF — Download PDF: 1 2 3 4 5 6

About this worksheet

Natural resources and communities show how people use materials from the environment and make choices about conservation helps third graders connect civic, geographic, historical, economic, and cultural ideas to evidence from everyday communities. Students may name a resource but miss how it supports jobs, settlement, transportation, energy, or daily life in a specific region. This worksheet uses short, concrete situations instead of broad recall questions. Students identify natural resources, connect resources to community uses, explain conservation choices, and compare benefits with tradeoffs.

Support versions use familiar school and neighborhood examples. Standard and challenge versions add closer distractors and require more careful comparison. Encourage your child to read the situation first, name the social studies idea being tested, and then choose the answer that fits the evidence. If an answer sounds reasonable but does not match the title skill or the details in the prompt, it is a distractor. That habit builds stronger reasoning for maps, timelines, sources, communities, and economic choices.

What your child will learn

Identify natural resources
Connect resources to communities
Explain conservation
Recognize tradeoffs

C3 Framework standard: D2.Geo.4.3-5

Worked example

Fresh water can help a river town with drinking, farming, and transportation, so keeping it clean matters.

Common mistake

Treating resources as unlimited because they come from nature.

Helpful hint

Ask how the resource helps people and how the community can protect it.

Earlier: Cultures and Communities

Questions parents ask

What is the most common mistake with natural resources and communities?

Treating resources as unlimited because they come from nature.

How can I help my child with natural resources and communities?

Ask how the resource helps people and how the community can protect it.

Are these 3rd grade social studies worksheets free to print?

Yes. All 6 printable versions on this page are free to download and print, with no account needed.

More 3rd grade geography

See all geography

Every sheet you scan goes into your child’s record: dated, marked and ready for the year-end portfolio. Homeschool records