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Sunlight, Water, or Both is a free printable Grade 2 science worksheet on planning an investigation into what plants need to grow, aligned to Common Core standard 2-LS2-1. 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 pupils in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

Set 4 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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One paper per pupil

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

Sunlight, Water, or Both

2-LS2-1

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

1.How long should a plant test run?
  • A.One afternoon
  • B.Until somebody gets bored
  • C.Long enough for a difference to show, such as three weeks
2.Tray 4 had neither. What does its result add?
  • A.It proves soil is useless
  • B.It shows what happens with nothing, to compare the others against
  • C.Nothing at all
3.Tray 3 had water and no sunlight and grew pale thin grass. What does that show?
  • A.Water is not needed
  • B.Water lets it grow, but sunlight is needed to grow thick and green
  • C.Sunlight does nothing
4.A pupil waters one tray more than the others. What is wrong?
  • A.Nothing, more water is better
  • B.Two things now differ, so the result cannot be explained
  • C.The tray will be tidier
5.What would settle whether a plant needs soil as well?
  • A.Asking a gardener
  • B.Watching tray 1 for longer
  • C.A tray with water and light but no soil
6.What should be kept the same in a plant test?
  • A.Nothing, so it is interesting
  • B.The amount of light in every tray
  • C.The seed, the soil and the tray
7.Tray 1 had sunlight and water and grew thick green grass. Tray 2 had sunlight and no water and grew nothing. What does that show?
  • A.Sunlight is not needed
  • B.Without water nothing grows at all
  • C.Grass hates sunlight
8.Why were all four trays sown on the same day?
  • A.So only the sunlight and the water differed between them
  • B.So the trays matched
  • C.So the class was busy

LessonPrint · 2-LS2-1 · Set 4 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Sunlight, Water, or Both

Set 4. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.Long enough for a difference to show, such as three weeks
  2. 2.It shows what happens with nothing, to compare the others against
  3. 3.Water lets it grow, but sunlight is needed to grow thick and green
  4. 4.Two things now differ, so the result cannot be explained
  5. 5.A tray with water and light but no soil
  6. 6.The seed, the soil and the tray
  7. 7.Without water nothing grows at all
  8. 8.So only the sunlight and the water differed between them

More practice for 2-LS2-1

Test whether plants need sunlight and water to grow.

Teaching this next? Sunlight, Water, or Both is the 50-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.

All Grade 2 worksheets

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to 2-LS2-1 of the Next Generation Science Standards.