Farming around the world, and where food comes from

Grade 9 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Wheat grown, 2020 to 2022

   Country	2020 (million tonnes)	2021 (million tonnes)	2022 (million tonnes)
   the world	757.0	772.8	808.4
   China	134.3	136.9	137.7
   India	107.9	109.6	107.7
   Russia	85.9	76.1	104.2
   United States	49.8	44.8	44.9
   Australia	14.5	31.9	36.2
   France	30.2	36.6	34.6
   Canada	35.4	22.4	34.3

   Note: FAO figures from FAOSTAT. Wheat output is the area harvested multiplied by the yield per hectare. Terraces are flat steps cut into slopes so that fields hold soil and water. In the south-central Andes, the Wari and other peoples built farming terraces before 1000 CE, and the Inca later adopted them. The Banaue Rice Terraces in the Philippines were carved largely by hand by ancestors of the Igorot people; one estimate says they are over 2,000 years old, but other researchers think they were built later.

2. 1.

   Ari says: "Three countries grow more than half of the world's wheat." Test the claim on the 2022 figures.

   • No: China alone grew 17% of the total, so no single country grew more than a fifth
   • No: China, India and Russia grew 349.6 of 808.4 million tonnes, about 43%
   • Yes: China, India and Russia are the three largest, and the largest rows tend to make up most of a total
   • Yes: the seven countries listed grew 499.6 million tonnes, which is more than half of 808.4
3. 2.

   Russia grew 76.1 of the world's 772.8 million tonnes in 2021 and 104.2 of 808.4 in 2022. What do the two years show Bo?

   • Russia's share rose by 28 points, the same as its rise of 28.1 million tonnes
   • Russia's share rose from about 10% to about 13%, while the world total also rose
   • Russia's share stayed near 10%, since the world total rose along with Russia's harvest
   • Russia's share rose while the world total fell, as Russia took wheat from other growers
4. 3.

   Esme studies 2021 to 2022, when the world total rose by 35.6 million tonnes. Which statement about the rows is correct?

   • Russia's rise of 28.1 million tonnes was the biggest in tonnes, about four-fifths of the net world rise
   • Canada contributed most, because its harvest rose by about 53%, a bigger percent than Russia's rise of 37%
   • Russia's rise of 37% is the same as its share, about 37%, of the world's rise
   • Russia caused four-fifths of the rise, so the other six rows together added just a fifth
5. 4.

   Jun says Russia's 2022 harvest shows its normal output. Russia grew 85.9, 76.1 and 104.2 million tonnes in 2020 to 2022. Is that fair?

   • Yes: 104.2 is the true level, since the latest year reflects the improved methods of recent years
   • No: the three years range from 76.1 to 104.2, so one harvest is a poor guide to normal
   • No: the average of 2020 and 2021, 81.0, is normal, because 2022 is the outlier
   • Yes: China's output barely changed, which shows output steady for the big growers
6. 5.

   The United States grew 49.8 million tonnes in 2020 and 44.9 in 2022. Kira says its farmers lost about a tenth of their wheat land. What is wrong?

   • Output is area times yield, so a fall in tonnes could come from less land or from lower yields
   • Output fell 4.9 million tonnes, so the area fell by 4.9 million hectares
   • Output fell, so yield must have fallen, because farmers do not give up wheat land
   • Output fell about a tenth, so the area fell about a tenth, since yields stay about the same from year to year
7. 6.

   Noah asks which are older, Banaue's terraces or the Andean ones. One estimate puts Banaue at over 2,000 years; others say later. The Andean date is before 1000 CE. What follows?

   • The Andean terraces are older, since a date before 1000 CE is earlier than an age of 2,000 years
   • Banaue is the younger, since the researchers who say later have the better evidence
   • Neither date settles it: a date before 1000 CE sets only an upper limit, and Banaue's age is disputed
   • Banaue is the older, since over 2,000 years is a greater age than a date that is before 1000 CE
8. 7.

   Terraces appear in the Andes and at Banaue. Pia says the two prove the idea passed from one place to the other. What do the cards allow?

   • Both sets of terraces hold soil and water, so they must share one origin in one earlier place
   • Only that both places have the same solution, which independent invention would also produce
   • The Inca adopted the Wari's terraces, which shows ideas traveled between continents
   • Banaue's estimate of over 2,000 years makes it the source and the Andean terraces the copy
9. 8.

   Ren says China is the best wheat grower because it grows the most. Which figure would best test that claim?

   • The world's total, 808.4, since it shows China's share of the whole world's wheat harvest
   • Wheat grown per person, since that shows how well each farmer works the land they have
   • Wheat exported, since a good grower is the one that sells the most of its wheat abroad
   • Wheat yield per hectare, since a country can grow the most just by farming the most land
10. 9.

    Compare Australia (14.5, 31.9, 36.2) with France (30.2, 36.6, 34.6) for 2020 to 2022. Who grows more wheat, according to Tala's cards?

    • Australia, since it has the higher figure in the latest year, 2022
    • Australia, since its output rose in each later year while France's output fell in 2022
    • France, since it led in two of the three years
    • It depends on the year: France grew more in 2020 and 2021, Australia more in 2022
11. 10.

    Banaue's terraces were carved largely by hand. Terraces hold soil and water on a slope. Which statement describes the trade-off Zee should draw?

    • Terraces suit rice but no other crop, because the famous ones, at Banaue, grow rice
    • Terraces replace rainfall, because they hold the water that the field needs
    • Terraces cost nothing once cut, and a bare slope loses its soil whenever rain falls on it
    • Terraces cost much labor to cut, but they let steep fields hold soil and water