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 3 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.
Maui catches the sun with ropes and makes it promise to cross the sky more slowly.
Tortoise tricks the birds at a feast, they take back the feathers they lent him, and he falls.
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.
A.why there is a hare shape on the moon
B.why the days are long enough to work in
C.why a tortoise's shell looks cracked
D.why there are troubles in the world
2.Write the letter of what each myth explains.
Narcissus falls in love with his own reflection in a pool and turns into a flower.
Echo is cursed so that she can only repeat the last words other people say.
Arachne boasts she weaves better than the goddess Athena and is turned into a spider.
Anansi tries to hide all the world's wisdom in a pot, but drops it and the wisdom scatters.
A.why spiders spin webs
B.why everybody has a little wisdom
C.where the narcissus flower comes from
D.why we hear echoes
3.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.
Prometheus steals fire from the gods and carries it down to people.
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.
A.why the year has seasons
B.why the sky is high above us
C.why bears have short tails
D.how people first got fire
LessonPrint · RL.3.2 · Set 3 · free to copy for classroom use
Answer key — What Does the Myth Explain?
Set 3. Prints on its own sheet.
1.1. Maui catches the sun with ropes and makes it promise to cross the sky more slowly. — B (why the days are long enough to work in) 2. Tortoise tricks the birds at a feast, they take back the feathers they lent him, and he falls. — C (why a tortoise's shell looks cracked) 3. A hare offers itself as food to a hungry stranger, who puts the hare's picture up in the night sky. — A (why there is a hare shape on the moon) 4. Pandora opens a jar she was told to keep shut, and troubles fly out into the world. — D (why there are troubles in the world)
2.1. Narcissus falls in love with his own reflection in a pool and turns into a flower. — C (where the narcissus flower comes from) 2. Echo is cursed so that she can only repeat the last words other people say. — D (why we hear echoes) 3. Arachne boasts she weaves better than the goddess Athena and is turned into a spider. — A (why spiders spin webs) 4. Anansi tries to hide all the world's wisdom in a pot, but drops it and the wisdom scatters. — B (why everybody has a little wisdom)
3.1. 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. Prometheus steals fire from the gods and carries it down to people. — D (how people first got fire) 3. 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) 4. Fox tricks Bear into fishing with his tail through the ice, and the tail freezes off. — C (why bears have short tails)
Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to RL.3.2 of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.