Natural Resources and Human Impact — Answer Key
Part A: Fill in the Blank
Write the missing word or number on each line.
1. Trash and chemicals dumped into rivers cause water pollution that harms fish.
Grade 4 science teaches that water pollution from waste damages aquatic habitats and animals.
2. When trees are cut down too quickly, the result is deforestation of forests.
Grade 4 students learn that deforestation reduces forest cover and animal habitat.
3. An ecosystem includes all the living and nonliving things in one area.
Grade 4 science explains that ecosystems are damaged when human activity harms resources.
4. Mining for coal can disturb the habitat where animals build their homes.
Grade 4 students learn that mining can destroy habitats and force animals to move.
5. Smoke from burning fuels rises into the atmosphere and pollutes our air.
Grade 4 science teaches that air pollution from fuels enters the atmosphere we breathe.
6. Oil spills from tanker ships can coat ocean animals like seabirds.
Grade 4 students learn that oil spills harm seabirds, fish, and many other marine animals.
7. Litter on beaches harms turtles, dolphins, and other marine life.
Grade 4 science teaches that ocean trash threatens marine life across the planet.
8. Too much plastic in oceans is a serious form of pollution.
Grade 4 students learn that plastic pollution harms ocean ecosystems for many years.
9. When a forest is cleared, the animals that lived there must find new homes.
Grade 4 science explains that habitat loss forces animals to move or face danger.
Part B: Matching
Match each item on the left to the correct answer on the right.
1. Match each item to its correct answer.
Cutting many trees
→ Habitat loss for forest animals
Marine pollution and litter
Oil spill in the ocean
→ Harm to seabirds and fish
Air pollution
Smokestacks at a factory
→ Air pollution
Habitat loss for forest animals
Plastic trash on a beach
→ Marine pollution and litter
Harm to seabirds and fish
Grade 4 science teaches that each kind of pollution or land change harms a specific part of the environment, from forests to oceans to the air we breathe.