What Does the Myth Explain? is a free printable Grade 3 English worksheet on matching an origin myth to the thing in the world it explains, aligned to Common Core standard RL.3.2. It prints 3 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two students 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.
Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.
What Does the Myth Explain?
RL.3.2
NameDate
Write the letter of the match next to each one.
1.Write the letter of what each myth explains.
A hare offers itself as food to a hungry stranger, who puts the hare's picture up in the night sky.
Pandora opens a jar she was told to keep shut, and troubles fly out into the world.
Sun and Moon invite Water to visit; Water fills their house, so they climb up to live above it.
Anansi tries to hide all the world's wisdom in a pot, but drops it and the wisdom scatters.
A.why everybody has a little wisdom
B.why there are troubles in the world
C.why there is a hare shape on the moon
D.why the sun and moon are in the sky
2.Write the letter of what each myth explains.
Phaethon loses control of the sun's chariot, and it flies so low that it scorches the land.
Arachne boasts she weaves better than the goddess Athena and is turned into a spider.
Tortoise tricks the birds at a feast, they take back the feathers they lent him, and he falls.
Persephone eats pomegranate seeds in the underworld, so each year she must go back there and her mother Demeter grieves.
A.why spiders spin webs
B.why a tortoise's shell looks cracked
C.why there are deserts
D.why the year has seasons
3.Write the letter of what each myth explains.
Echo is cursed so that she can only repeat the last words other people say.
People cut pieces off the sky to eat and waste them, so the sky moves far away from them.
Fox tricks Bear into fishing with his tail through the ice, and the tail freezes off.
Maui catches the sun with ropes and makes it promise to cross the sky more slowly.
A.why bears have short tails
B.why the sky is high above us
C.why we hear echoes
D.why the days are long enough to work in
LessonPrint · RL.3.2 · Set 11 · free to copy for classroom use
Answer key — What Does the Myth Explain?
Set 11. Prints on its own sheet.
1.1. A hare offers itself as food to a hungry stranger, who puts the hare's picture up in the night sky. — C (why there is a hare shape on the moon) 2. Pandora opens a jar she was told to keep shut, and troubles fly out into the world. — B (why there are troubles in the world) 3. Sun and Moon invite Water to visit; Water fills their house, so they climb up to live above it. — D (why the sun and moon are in the sky) 4. Anansi tries to hide all the world's wisdom in a pot, but drops it and the wisdom scatters. — A (why everybody has a little wisdom)
2.1. Phaethon loses control of the sun's chariot, and it flies so low that it scorches the land. — C (why there are deserts) 2. Arachne boasts she weaves better than the goddess Athena and is turned into a spider. — A (why spiders spin webs) 3. Tortoise tricks the birds at a feast, they take back the feathers they lent him, and he falls. — B (why a tortoise's shell looks cracked) 4. Persephone eats pomegranate seeds in the underworld, so each year she must go back there and her mother Demeter grieves. — D (why the year has seasons)
3.1. Echo is cursed so that she can only repeat the last words other people say. — C (why we hear echoes) 2. People cut pieces off the sky to eat and waste them, so the sky moves far away from them. — B (why the sky is high above us) 3. Fox tricks Bear into fishing with his tail through the ice, and the tail freezes off. — A (why bears have short tails) 4. Maui catches the sun with ropes and makes it promise to cross the sky more slowly. — D (why the days are long enough to work in)
Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to RL.3.2 of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.