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 21 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.
Persephone eats pomegranate seeds in the underworld, so each year she must go back there and her mother Demeter grieves.
Phaethon loses control of the sun's chariot, and it flies so low that it scorches the land.
Maui catches the sun with ropes and makes it promise to cross the sky more slowly.
People cut pieces off the sky to eat and waste them, so the sky moves far away from them.
A.why the year has seasons
B.why the sky is high above us
C.why there are deserts
D.why the days are long enough to work in
2.Write the letter of what each myth explains.
Pandora opens a jar she was told to keep shut, and troubles fly out into the world.
Fox tricks Bear into fishing with his tail through the ice, and the tail freezes off.
A hare offers itself as food to a hungry stranger, who puts the hare's picture up in the night sky.
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 bears have short tails
C.why there are troubles in the world
D.why there is a hare shape on the moon
3.Write the letter of what each myth explains.
Narcissus falls in love with his own reflection in a pool and turns into a flower.
Tortoise tricks the birds at a feast, they take back the feathers they lent him, and he falls.
Sun and Moon invite Water to visit; Water fills their house, so they climb up to live above it.
Echo is cursed so that she can only repeat the last words other people say.
A.why a tortoise's shell looks cracked
B.why we hear echoes
C.why the sun and moon are in the sky
D.where the narcissus flower comes from
LessonPrint · RL.3.2 · Set 21 · free to copy for classroom use
Answer key — What Does the Myth Explain?
Set 21. Prints on its own sheet.
1.1. Persephone eats pomegranate seeds in the underworld, so each year she must go back there and her mother Demeter grieves. — A (why the year has seasons) 2. Phaethon loses control of the sun's chariot, and it flies so low that it scorches the land. — C (why there are deserts) 3. 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) 4. 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)
2.1. Pandora opens a jar she was told to keep shut, and troubles fly out into the world. — C (why there are troubles in the world) 2. Fox tricks Bear into fishing with his tail through the ice, and the tail freezes off. — B (why bears have short tails) 3. A hare offers itself as food to a hungry stranger, who puts the hare's picture up in the night sky. — D (why there is a hare shape on the moon) 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)
3.1. Narcissus falls in love with his own reflection in a pool and turns into a flower. — D (where the narcissus flower comes from) 2. Tortoise tricks the birds at a feast, they take back the feathers they lent him, and he falls. — A (why a tortoise's shell looks cracked) 3. Sun and Moon invite Water to visit; Water fills their house, so they climb up to live above it. — C (why the sun and moon are in the sky) 4. Echo is cursed so that she can only repeat the last words other people say. — B (why we hear echoes)
Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to RL.3.2 of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.