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Earth Materials at Work is a free printable Grade 2 science worksheet on explaining why a rock, a soil or water suits the job it is used for, aligned to NGSS performance expectation 2-PS1-2. It prints 8 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask 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 17 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.

Earth Materials at Work

2-PS1-2

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

1.Why do potters add water to dry clay?
  • A.Water makes clay harder
  • B.Wet clay becomes soft enough to shape
  • C.Water changes clay into sand
2.Why are old walls often built from blocks of hard rock?
  • A.Hard rock lasts a long time in wind and rain
  • B.Hard rock is soft to touch
  • C.Hard rock floats
3.Why are sandbags piled up when a river is about to flood?
  • A.Sandbags float on top of the flood
  • B.Wet sand is heavy and packs tight, so it holds back water
  • C.Sand drinks up the whole river
4.Why is soil, not sand, best for a vegetable patch?
  • A.Soil holds the water and food that roots need
  • B.Soil is drier than sand
  • C.Sand is too dark
5.Why is river water cleaned before it comes out of the faucet?
  • A.Cleaning makes it taste salty
  • B.River water is too cold
  • C.River water can carry mud and germs that make people ill
6.Why is sand put under the swings in a playground?
  • A.Sand makes the swings faster
  • B.Loose sand is soft to land on
  • C.Sand keeps the swings dry
7.Why is salt spread on icy roads in winter?
  • A.It makes the ice melt, so the roads are less slippery
  • B.It feeds the plants by the road
  • C.It makes the roads shine
8.Why are some dams built from rock with a core of packed clay?
  • A.Rock soaks up the water
  • B.Clay is light enough to float
  • C.Clay lets very little water through, and the rock is heavy and strong

LessonPrint · 2-PS1-2 · Set 17 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Earth Materials at Work

Set 17. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.Wet clay becomes soft enough to shape
  2. 2.Hard rock lasts a long time in wind and rain
  3. 3.Wet sand is heavy and packs tight, so it holds back water
  4. 4.Soil holds the water and food that roots need
  5. 5.River water can carry mud and germs that make people ill
  6. 6.Loose sand is soft to land on
  7. 7.It makes the ice melt, so the roads are less slippery
  8. 8.Clay lets very little water through, and the rock is heavy and strong

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to 2-PS1-2 of the Next Generation Science Standards.