Pollution Worksheet

Pollution happens when harmful things are added to the air, the land, or the water around us. Third graders are ready to notice it in the world they already know — gray smoke drifting from a chimney, litter left behind in a park, a plastic bottle floating down a stream — and to explain what it does to plants, animals, and people. This pollution worksheet gives students a clear, kid-friendly way to name the three kinds of pollution and to think about what causes each one.

This 3rd grade environments worksheet moves students from looking to thinking. In Part A, they study four full-color scenes and write whether each one shows air, land, or water pollution. In Part B, they draw lines to match five causes with the effect each one produces, including one cause that produces a good result. In Part C, they choose one kind of pollution, explain how it harms living things, and describe one way people can help stop it. Use it to open a unit on caring for the environment, as independent practice after a lesson, or as a quick review before a science quiz.

What’s Included

• 1 print-ready PDF worksheet
• Answer key
• 3 activities: 4 illustrated picture-labeling items, a 5-pair cause-and-effect match, and a written-response question

There are three reasons this pollution worksheet helps children learn the skill. First, the illustrations do the teaching — a student who cannot yet define land pollution can still see it, and the picture gives the new vocabulary something to hold onto. Second, the cause-and-effect matching pushes past naming and into reasoning, so students connect an action to the result it produces instead of memorizing a list. Third, the closing written response asks for both an explanation and a solution, which turns a science fact into something a child can actually do something about.

Teachers and parents can keep the topic going in simple, hands-on ways. Take a five-minute litter walk around the playground and tally what you find, then sort the items into what can be recycled and what cannot. Set out three labeled bins and let students practice sorting classroom paper, cans, and food scraps. Ask children to design a poster inviting their family to help keep one favorite place clean. Fill a clear jar with water and add a little soil, a scrap of foil, and a bit of paper to see how quickly clean water stops looking clean, then talk about who lives in a stream and what they need.

Related Resources

• Air Pollution Worksheet
• Water Pollution Worksheet
• Recycling Sort Worksheet
• Going Green Song (Have Fun Teaching on YouTube)