Skip to content
LessonPrint

What the Surroundings Change is a free printable Grade 3 science worksheet on evidence that traits can be influenced by the environment, aligned to Common Core standard 3-LS3-2. 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 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 11 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

Next setLesson plan

One paper per pupil

12345678910111213141516171819202122232425

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

What the Surroundings Change

3-LS3-2

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

1.Two identical seedlings are given different amounts of water. What is being tested?
  • A.Whether seeds are alive
  • B.Whether they are related
  • C.Whether water affects how they grow
2.Can a trait be affected by both?
  • A.Only in plants
  • B.No, it is one or the other
  • C.Yes, height is inherited and also affected by light and food
3.A tree on a cliff leans away from the sea. What caused that?
  • A.Its parent leaned too
  • B.The wind it grew in
  • C.It chose to
4.A puppy fed well grows heavier than its littermate. Inherited or environment?
  • A.Neither
  • B.Environment, because the food differed
  • C.Inherited, because they are related
5.Why does it matter that all the seed came from one packet?
  • A.It kept them tidy
  • B.It rules out different seed as the cause of the difference
  • C.It made them cheaper
6.What would you need to show a trait is inherited rather than environmental?
  • A.A photograph
  • B.The same trait appearing when the surroundings are kept the same
  • C.A longer wait
7.Sunflowers from one packet grew 148 cm in sun and 96 cm in shade. What does that show?
  • A.The seeds were different kinds
  • B.Height is not inherited at all
  • C.The surroundings affected how tall they grew
8.Which is influenced by the environment?
  • A.How tall a plant grows in poor light
  • B.The colour of its flowers
  • C.The shape of its leaves

LessonPrint · 3-LS3-2 · Set 11 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — What the Surroundings Change

Set 11. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.Whether water affects how they grow
  2. 2.Yes, height is inherited and also affected by light and food
  3. 3.The wind it grew in
  4. 4.Environment, because the food differed
  5. 5.It rules out different seed as the cause of the difference
  6. 6.The same trait appearing when the surroundings are kept the same
  7. 7.The surroundings affected how tall they grew
  8. 8.How tall a plant grows in poor light

More practice for 3-LS3-2

Show with evidence that surroundings can change a trait.

Teaching this next? What the Surroundings Change is the 55-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.

All Grade 3 worksheets

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to 3-LS3-2 of the Next Generation Science Standards.