Reducing What the Earth Does to Us is a free printable Grade 4 science worksheet on comparing solutions that reduce the impacts of natural Earth processes, aligned to NGSS performance expectation 4-ESS3-2. It prints 2 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions, 14 of them with different questions, so no two students in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.
Set 1 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.
14 of these 25 sets ask different questions — this skill does not have 25 questions to give. The rest reorder them, so no two students have the same paper in front of them.
Reducing What the Earth Does to Us
4-ESS3-2
NameDate
Write your answer. Use the checklist.
1.Before groynes were built, 180 kg of sand a week was carried off a beach. Afterward, 40 kg a week was. Judge groynes as a solution.
Say what groynes do
Use the sand figures
Say what happens further along
2.A school is built where earthquakes happen. Judge one design that reduces the danger.
Name the design
Say what it protects
Say what it cannot stop
LessonPrint · 4-ESS3-2 · Set 1 · free to copy for classroom use
Answer key — Reducing What the Earth Does to Us
Set 1. Prints on its own sheet.
1.Groynes trapping sand, using the fall from 180 kg to 40 kg a week, and the drawback that beaches further along the coast lose sand instead.
2.A design such as flexible framing that protects the school in an earthquake, with what it cannot stop.
Questions about Reducing What the Earth Does to Us
What does the Reducing What the Earth Does to Us worksheet cover?
It practices comparing solutions that reduce the impacts of natural Earth processes — 2 questions for Grade 4, all on NGSS 4-ESS3-2: Compare designs that reduce the harm from natural Earth processes. The instruction to students is “Write your answer. Use the checklist”, and the answer key follows on the next sheet.
Which NGSS performance expectation does Reducing What the Earth Does to Us practice?
4-ESS3-2, under Earth and Space Science for Grade 4. The published performance expectation reads: “Generate and compare multiple solutions to reduce the impacts of natural Earth processes on humans.” The worksheet assesses that performance expectation rather than a paraphrase of it.
What age or grade is this worksheet for?
Reducing What the Earth Does to Us is written for Grade 4, typically ages 9-10. It is one of the sheets on 4-ESS3-2, so it suits any student working at that standard — including older students revisiting it and younger ones working ahead.
Does Reducing What the Earth Does to Us come with an answer key?
Yes. All 2 answers are generated from the same problems as the questions, so the key cannot drift out of step with the sheet. It starts on a fresh sheet of paper, after the questions, so it is not handed out with the class by accident.
How many different versions of Reducing What the Earth Does to Us can I print?
25 versions, of which 14 ask genuinely different questions — this skill does not have 25 distinct questions to give, so the rest reorder them and no two students still share a paper. Set 1 downloads all 25 as one PDF.
Is Reducing What the Earth Does to Us free to print and photocopy?
Yes. Reducing What the Earth Does to Us, its answer key and its 25 versions are free to print and photocopy for your own class, with no account, no email capture and no subscription at the download step. Please do not resell them or republish them as your own.
Is there a lesson plan to teach 4-ESS3-2?
Yes — “Reducing What the Earth Does to Us” is a 55-minute Grade 4 plan for 4-ESS3-2, timed section by section, with the misconceptions to expect and an exit ticket. Reducing What the Earth Does to Us is the practice that follows it.
More practice for 4-ESS3-2
Compare designs that reduce the harm from natural Earth processes.