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Following a Technical Explanation is a free printable Grade 3 English worksheet on holding a chain of causes together while reading, aligned to Common Core standard RI.3.10. It prints 2 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.

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

Following a Technical Explanation

RI.3.10

NameDate

Read the text, then answer the questions.

1.Read the text, then answer the questions.

Why Bread Rises

Yeast is alive. It is a fungus, and each grain of dried yeast holds millions of cells waiting for water. Add warm water and the cells wake up. They begin to feed on the sugars in the flour. As they feed, they give off carbon dioxide gas. The gas cannot escape, because kneading the dough has built a stretchy web of gluten that traps it. Thousands of tiny bubbles form, and the dough swells. In the oven, two things happen. The trapped gas expands in the heat, so the loaf rises further. Then the heat kills the yeast and sets the gluten, and the bubbles are locked in place. That is why bread has holes in it.

  1. 1. Explain the cause and effect between kneading and the holes in bread.
  2. 2. Put these in order: the gluten sets, the yeast feeds, the gas expands.
  3. 3. What would happen to dough with no gluten in it?
2.Read the text, then answer the questions.

Morse Code

Morse code turns every letter into a pattern of short and long signals: dots and dashes. The commonest letters were given the shortest patterns. E is one dot. T is one dash. Q, which is rare, is dash-dash-dot-dash. Because of that choice, an average message is much shorter than it would be otherwise. A message can be sent as sound, as light, or as taps on a pipe. That is why it survived so long: it needs almost no equipment. Timing carries the meaning. A dash is three times as long as a dot. The gap between letters is three dots long, and between words, seven. SOS was chosen because it is easy to recognise: three dots, three dashes, three dots.

  1. 1. Why does timing matter more in Morse than in braille?
  2. 2. Explain the cause and effect between letter frequency and message length.
  3. 3. In a message, which gap is longer: between letters or between words?

LessonPrint · RI.3.10 · Set 3 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Following a Technical Explanation

Set 3. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. Kneading builds the gluten web, which traps the gas in bubbles, and the heat locks those bubbles in as holes. 2. The yeast feeds, the gas expands, the gluten sets. 3. The gas would escape, so the dough would not swell and the bread would be flat.
  2. 2.1. Because Morse is sent through time as signals, so the length of a gap is part of the meaning. 2. Because common letters got short patterns, an average message came out much shorter. 3. Between words — seven dots long, against three between letters.

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to RI.3.10 of the Common Core State Standards for English language arts.