Final answer:
The independent clause is 'The sky is less grand,' while the dependent clause is 'as it shuts down over less worth in the population.' The independent clause can stand alone, whereas the dependent clause relies on the former to provide a complete idea.
Step-by-step explanation:
The sentence in question is 'The sky is less grand as it shuts down over less worth in the population.' To identify the independent and dependent clauses in this sentence, we have to look for groups of words that contain a subject and a verb, and determine which of those can stand alone as a complete sentence.
The independent clause is 'The sky is less grand,' as it contains a subject (the sky) and a verb (is) and can stand alone as a complete sentence, expressing a complete thought. The remaining part of the sentence, 'as it shuts down over less worth in the population,' is the dependent clause, which starts with 'as' (a subordinating conjunction) and can't stand alone. It relies on the independent clause to form a complete idea, thereby modifying the statement about the sky.