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