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 7 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.
People cut pieces off the sky to eat and waste them, so the sky moves far away from them.
Persephone eats pomegranate seeds in the underworld, so each year she must go back there and her mother Demeter grieves.
Arachne boasts she weaves better than the goddess Athena and is turned into a spider.
A hare offers itself as food to a hungry stranger, who puts the hare's picture up in the night sky.
A.why spiders spin webs
B.why the sky is high above us
C.why there is a hare shape on the moon
D.why the year has seasons
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.
Tortoise tricks the birds at a feast, they take back the feathers they lent him, and he falls.
Echo is cursed so that she can only repeat the last words other people say.
Sun and Moon invite Water to visit; Water fills their house, so they climb up to live above it.
A.why we hear echoes
B.where the narcissus flower comes from
C.why a tortoise's shell looks cracked
D.why the sun and moon are in the sky
3.Write the letter of what each myth explains.
Prometheus steals fire from the gods and carries it down to people.
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.
Pandora opens a jar she was told to keep shut, and troubles fly out into the world.
A.how people first got fire
B.why there are troubles in the world
C.why bears have short tails
D.why the days are long enough to work in
LessonPrint · RL.3.2 · Set 7 · free to copy for classroom use
Answer key — What Does the Myth Explain?
Set 7. Prints on its own sheet.
1.1. 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. 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. Arachne boasts she weaves better than the goddess Athena and is turned into a spider. — A (why spiders spin webs) 4. 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)
2.1. Narcissus falls in love with his own reflection in a pool and turns into a flower. — B (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. — C (why a tortoise's shell looks cracked) 3. Echo is cursed so that she can only repeat the last words other people say. — A (why we hear echoes) 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)
3.1. Prometheus steals fire from the gods and carries it down to people. — A (how people first got fire) 2. Fox tricks Bear into fishing with his tail through the ice, and the tail freezes off. — C (why bears have short tails) 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. 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)
Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to RL.3.2 of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.