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 Flood and Drought
During a flood, rivers and streams get
too full. The water overflows onto land.
Tropical storm Alberto hit Georgia in 1994.
The storm caused many floods.
Because of the floods, some trees and
plants died. Animals lost their homes.
People had to move to high ground.
Alberto also caused erosion. Erosion
happens when moving water changes the
land. The water carries rocks and soil to
new places.
In a flood, people
must move to high
ground.

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 Georgia can have droughts, too. A
drought is a long time with little rain.
Without rain, the land gets very dry.
During a drought, plants can die. Then
animals that eat plants may die, too.

CAUSE AND EFFECT What does a drought do to

plants?

These plants have

died because of a
drought.

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 Fire from Lightning
Have you ever seen a forest fire? Georgia
has many small forest fires every year.
Some of them start when lightning strikes
a dry pine tree. The tree catches fire. Then
the fire may spread.
Fire kills the trees and other plants. Birds
such as pine warblers lose their homes. Red
foxes and other animals lose their homes,
too. They may move to other places. If
they do not move, they can die.

Lightning starts some fires.

Lightning causes about

350 fires in Georgia
every year.

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 Fires also do some good. They make
room for new plants. After a fire, plants
grow in the open land. They get a lot of
sunlight. As the plants grow, animals come
back.

CAUSE AND EFFECT How can weather cause a fire?

This fire will leave space

for new plants to grow.

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 Living Things Change
the Land
An environment is all the living and
nonliving things in a place. Plants change
environments in many ways.
Plants can cause animals to move to a
place. The plants give homes and food to
the animals. Plant roots hold soil together.
That helps stop erosion.

Trees provide homes for

animals and help stop erosion.

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 Animals change environments, too.
Beavers live in some streams in Georgia.
They use wood to build dams. The dams
stop the water and make ponds.
You can see how a beaver dam works.
Put a plate under a faucet. Run a small
stream of water across the plate. Put the
edge of your hand in the stream to block
it. How does the stream change? You have
made a model of a beaver pond.

CAUSE AND EFFECT What happens to a stream

when beavers build a dam?

Beavers build parts of

their dams under water.
They can stay under water
for up to 15 minutes.

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 Cleaning Georgia’s Rivers
Pollution is anything that harms the air,
water, or land. One kind of pollution is air
pollution. Smoke from factories that goes
into the air can make people and animals
sick.
Another kind of pollution is litter. Litter is
trash that people do not put in trashcans.
Some of Georgia’s rivers used to have a lot
of litter in them. Trash covered plants.
Plants could not grow. Animals who tried
to eat the trash got sick. Trash also made
the water dirty.

Litter harms plants,

animals, and people.

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 People in Georgia have worked hard to
clean the rivers. They are taking litter
away. To keep the rivers clean, people
must not throw trash on the ground or in
the water.

CAUSE AND EFFECT When people litter, what

happens to plants and animals?

Smoke from a factory

can cause air pollution.

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 Saving Resources
People use natural resources such as
land, water, and trees. To help the
environment, people should not waste
natural resources. They should use only
what they need.
When people make buildings, they cut
down trees. Animals need trees for food
and homes so it is good to leave some
trees standing. Without trees, animals
must move away, or they will die.

CAUSE AND EFFECT What happens if people cut

down all the trees in a place?

This place had many

trees. Many animals
had to move away.

10

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 Summary
Weather changes the land. Floods may
cause erosion, and droughts leave land dry.
Lightning can cause fires, which harm
plants and animals. Living things also
change the land. Some changes caused by
people, like pollution, harm the land.
People can also help the land by protecting
resources.

What changes have people

and weather made to this
environment?

11

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 Glossary
drought (DROWT) A long time with little
rain that causes the land to get very dry (3,
11)
environment (en•VY•ruhn•muhnt) All the
living and nonliving things in a place (6, 7,
9, 10, 11)
erosion (uh•ROH•zhuhn) The wearing
away of land by water, wind, or ice (3, 6,
11)
flood (FLUHD) When more rain falls than
can be soaked up by the land (2, 11)
pollution (puh•LOO•shuhn) Anything that
harms the air, water, or land (8, 9, 11)

12

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 Think and Write
1. What are
is a all
lifethe
cycle?
living and nonliving
things in a place
2. SEQUENCE Whichcalled?
stage of the life
cycle comes
2. CAUSE ANDfirst?
EFFECT What happens
butterfl
to animals
y when
caterpillar
there is apupa
fire?
CAUSE ANDWhat
3. SEQUENCE EFFECTis the
How
lastdo
part
plants
of
an animal’s
change an environment?
life cycle?
4. Choose
Write a story
an animal
aboutyou
someone
know about.
who
Writewhat
sees aboutpollution
the stages
does
oftoitsthe
life cycle.
environment. Describe how he or she
Hands-On
cleansActivity
it up.
Get a mealworm from a pet store. Keep it
Hands-On
in a dark Activity
container with food. How does
the mealworm
Make a bank fromchange overone-gallon
a clean two weeks?
plastic bottle. Have an adult cut a slot in
School-Home
the bottle. UseConnection
markers or paper and glue
to decorate
Watch yourinbank.
animals and around your home.
Look for clues to find how they produce
School-Home
young. How do Connection
they grow and change?
Talk with
With a family
an adult member
family member,abouttalkthe
about
animals
the you have
changes seen.
weather, plants, animals,
and people have made to your
environment.

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