Farming around the world, and where food comes from
Grade 9 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence
Circle the best answer.
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The world's irrigated land by region, 2023
Region Share of the world's irrigated land Asia 71% the Americas 16% Europe 8% Africa and Oceania together 5% Note: FAO figures. Land equipped for irrigation reached 355 million hectares in 2023, up from 289 million in 2000; that is 23% of the world's cropland. On average, irrigated land yields 76% more than rain-fed land. Farming takes about 69% of the fresh water people withdraw. Subsistence farming grows crops on small holdings mainly for the family's own needs; commercial farming grows crops mainly for sale.
Asia holds 71% of the world's irrigated land. What does Ari learn from that share?
- Asia has most of the world's irrigated land; the share cannot show how much of Asia's farmland is irrigated
- Asia grows 71% of the world's crops, because irrigated land is where the world's crops grow
- About 71% of Asia's farmland is irrigated, because 71% is the share the chart gives for Asia
- Asia has more farmland than any other region, which is the reason its irrigated share is the largest in the world
Bo says Asia, with 71%, has over four times the irrigated land of the Americas, with 16%. Is that supported?
- No: a share is a percent, so just two counts of hectares can be compared this way
- Yes: both shares are parts of the same world total, so 71% is more than four times 16%
- Yes, and so Asia must also grow over four times as much food as the Americas do
- Yes, and so Asia irrigates over four times the share of its own cropland that the Americas do
The last row reads "Africa and Oceania together, 5%". What is the fairest reading of that row for Esme?
- Africa has more than 5% and Oceania less, since Africa has far more farmland than Oceania has in total
- Each of the two regions has 5%, so together they hold 10% of the world's irrigated land
- Africa alone has the 5%, because Africa is the larger of the two regions on a map
- The 5% covers both together, so each of the two has less than 5% of the world's irrigated land
Irrigated land grew from 289 million hectares in 2000 to 355 million in 2023. Jun wants a yearly average gain. Which is right, and what does it hide?
- About 3 million hectares a year; an average hides whether the gain came evenly from year to year
- About 15 million hectares a year, the 2023 total shared out across the 23 years
- About 3 million hectares a year, so the gain must have been the same size in each of the 23 years
- About 66 million hectares a year, the gap between the two totals, which holds for each year
Irrigated land is 23% of the world's cropland. What does that tell Kira about the other 77%?
- It is not equipped for irrigation, so its crops depend on rain
- It yields 76% more than irrigated land, because rain-fed fields get water from the sky
- It is unused, since cropland that is not irrigated cannot be farmed
- It is 77% of the irrigated land, because the 23% leaves the rest of the 355 million hectares
Irrigated land is 23% of cropland and yields 76% more per hectare than rain-fed land. If both averages hold, what share of the crop does Luz find is irrigated?
- About a third, because each irrigated hectare counts as 1.76 rain-fed hectares
- About 23%, because a region's share of the cropland is also the same share of the crop it grows
- About 76%, because irrigated land yields 76% more than the rain-fed land does
- About 40%, because 23 times 1.76 is 40 percent of one rain-fed hectare's crop
A family grows rice on one hectare. They eat most of it and sell the rest to pay school fees. How should Milo classify the farm?
- Commercial farming, because the money from the sale is spent on school fees
- Subsistence farming: the rice is grown mainly for the family's needs, even though some is sold
- Neither type, because a farm must grow either for the family or for sale, but not for both purposes
- Commercial farming, since any sale of the crop makes a farm commercial
A company grows wheat on 3,000 irrigated hectares and sells all of it to mills. How should Noah classify this farm?
- Commercial farming; the wheat is grown mainly for sale, and irrigation does not change that
- Neither kind, since large irrigated farms run by companies form a third type of farming
- Subsistence farming, because wheat is a food crop and irrigated land feeds the local people nearby
- Subsistence farming, because irrigated fields are small holdings run for the family
A coffee farmer sells the whole harvest to an exporter and buys the family's food at a market. What does this case show Pia?
- It is neither kind, since commercial farming needs irrigated land and a coffee farm may not have it
- It is commercial farming: the crop is grown for sale, and the family does not grow its own food
- It is subsistence farming, because the family still eats food bought with the crop's income
- It is subsistence farming, because a hill farm with one crop is a small holding
Asia has 71% of the world's irrigated land. Which prediction about Asia's use of withdrawn fresh water does Tala find best supported?
- It is exactly 71%, because a region's water use follows its share of irrigated land
- It is probably large, since farming takes most withdrawn water and Asia has most irrigated land
- It is small, because irrigated land in Asia yields more per hectare than land elsewhere
- It is about the same as Europe's, since regions irrigate by much the same methods in the world today
