Sunflowers in Sun and Shade is a free printable Grade 3 science worksheet on using measured heights as evidence that surroundings change a trait, aligned to NGSS performance expectation 3-LS3-2. It prints 7 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 18 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.
Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.
Sunflowers in Sun and Shade
3-LS3-2
NameDate
Read the record, then answer the questions.
1.Read the record, then answer the questions.
Sunflowers From One Packet
Heights measured after ten weeks, from one packet of seed sown in two places.
HEIGHTS AFTER TEN WEEKS
Sunny bed: 148 cm, 152 cm, 139 cm, 155 cm, 144 cm
Shady bed: 96 cm, 88 cm, 102 cm, 91 cm, 85 cm
All seeds came from the same packet.
All had the same soil and the same watering.
Every plant had yellow flowers and a thick stem.
1. What claim does this record support?
2. What does this record not tell you?
3. What was the tallest plant in the sunny bed?
4. What would a third bed with even less light probably show?
2.A dog is given too much food and little exercise. What may happen?
A.It grows a longer tail
B.Its puppies will be overweight
C.It becomes overweight
3.Identical twins grow up apart, and one does far more sport. One is much stronger. Inherited or surroundings?
A.Surroundings, because the twins started the same
B.Neither
C.Inherited, because they are twins
4.A tree on a windy hilltop is short and bent. A tree of the same kind in a valley is tall and straight. What explains it?
A.The two trees are different kinds
B.The hilltop tree is older
C.The wind on the hilltop affected how it grew
5.How could you test whether light affects the height of a plant?
A.Grow different kinds of seed in the same place
B.Grow one plant and measure it once
C.Grow seeds from one packet, some in light and some in shade, with everything else the same
6.A kind of plant that normally grows tall is given too little water. What happens?
A.It changes into a different kind of plant
B.It grows short and stunted
C.It grows taller than normal
7.A seedling grown in a dark cupboard is pale and spindly. What caused that?
A.It was too warm
B.It came from a pale parent
C.Growing without light
LessonPrint · 3-LS3-2 · Set 18 · free to copy for classroom use
Answer key — Sunflowers in Sun and Shade
Set 18. Prints on its own sheet.
1.1. Seed from one packet grew to different heights, so the sunny and shady beds changed how tall the plants grew. 2. It does not tell you how much sunlight each bed actually received. 3. 155 cm. 4. Plants shorter than the shady bed's, if less sunlight means less growth.
2.It becomes overweight
3.Surroundings, because the twins started the same
4.The wind on the hilltop affected how it grew
5.Grow seeds from one packet, some in light and some in shade, with everything else the same
6.It grows short and stunted
7.Growing without light
Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to 3-LS3-2 of the Next Generation Science Standards.