In this Grade 3 lesson from Science: A Closer Look, Chapter 3, students explore how living things change their environments as they meet their needs for resources such as food, water, air, and shelter. Students learn key concepts including decomposers, competition, and pollution, and examine how both natural organisms and people can cause helpful or harmful environmental changes. Hands-on inquiry with worms helps students observe and record how animals physically alter the soil and materials around them.
Section 1
Living Things Modify Their Surroundings
Plants, animals, and decomposers alter environments while meeting their needs for food, shelter, and resources. These changes can be small, like birds building nests, or large, like decomposers enriching soil.
Section 2
Organisms Compete for Limited Resources
Every environment has finite resources like food, water, and space. Living things must compete for these essentials, causing environmental changes as some species thrive while others struggle to survive.
Section 3
Humans Transform Environments Most Dramatically
People change environments through pollution, clearing land, and introducing new species. These actions can harm natural habitats, displace native organisms, and deplete resources needed by other living things.
Section 4
People Practice 3Rs to Protect Nature
Humans can help environments by reducing consumption, reusing items, and recycling materials. These practices decrease waste, conserve resources, and minimize pollution that harms living things.
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Section 1
Living Things Modify Their Surroundings
Plants, animals, and decomposers alter environments while meeting their needs for food, shelter, and resources. These changes can be small, like birds building nests, or large, like decomposers enriching soil.
Section 2
Organisms Compete for Limited Resources
Every environment has finite resources like food, water, and space. Living things must compete for these essentials, causing environmental changes as some species thrive while others struggle to survive.
Section 3
Humans Transform Environments Most Dramatically
People change environments through pollution, clearing land, and introducing new species. These actions can harm natural habitats, displace native organisms, and deplete resources needed by other living things.
Section 4
People Practice 3Rs to Protect Nature
Humans can help environments by reducing consumption, reusing items, and recycling materials. These practices decrease waste, conserve resources, and minimize pollution that harms living things.
Book overview
Jump across lessons in the current chapter without opening the full course modal.
Continue this chapter