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Following a Chain of Causes is a free printable Grade 4 English worksheet on holding a multi-step causal chain together, aligned to Common Core standard RI.4.10. It prints 2 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two pupils in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

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Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.

Following a Chain of Causes

RI.4.10

NameDate

Read the text, then answer the questions.

1.Read the text, then answer the questions.

The Accidental Photograph

In 1895 Wilhelm Röntgen was working with a covered tube in a darkened room when he noticed a screen across the laboratory glowing. Something was passing through the cover and crossing the room. He did not know what it was, so he called it X — the unknown. He spent seven weeks alone in the laboratory testing it. He put wood, rubber and metal in the way. Metal stopped it; the rest did not. Then he asked his wife to put her hand between the tube and a photographic plate. The picture showed the bones of her hand and her wedding ring. Within a year, X-rays were being used in hospitals. Röntgen refused to patent them.

  1. 1. Explain the relationship between the seven weeks of testing and the photograph of the hand.
  2. 2. Put these in order: he photographs a hand, he notices a glowing screen, he tests wood and metal.
  3. 3. Summarise this text.
2.Read the text, then answer the questions.

The Wolves and the Rivers

Wolves were shot out of Yellowstone by 1926. Fourteen were brought back in 1995. With no wolves, elk had grazed the valleys freely for seventy years. Young willow and aspen were eaten as soon as they grew. The wolves killed some elk. More importantly, they changed where elk would stand still. Open valley floors became dangerous, so the elk stopped lingering there. Willow and aspen grew back along the rivers. Beavers, which need willow, returned. Their dams made ponds. Roots held the banks. The rivers narrowed, deepened and moved less. Some researchers describe this as wolves changing the shape of rivers, though others argue the effect has been overstated.

  1. 1. Summarise this text.
  2. 2. Put these in order: beavers return, wolves are reintroduced, willow grows back.
  3. 3. Explain the relationship between the wolves and the shape of the rivers.

LessonPrint · RI.4.10 · Set 11 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Following a Chain of Causes

Set 11. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. The testing established that metal stopped the rays and other materials did not, which is what made the bone photograph possible. 2. He notices a glowing screen, he tests wood and metal, he photographs a hand. 3. Röntgen noticed an unexplained glow in 1895, tested it alone for seven weeks, photographed his wife's hand bones, and within a year hospitals were using X-rays.
  2. 2.1. Wolves returned to Yellowstone in 1995, changed where elk grazed, allowed willow and beavers back, and are credited — with some dispute — with reshaping the rivers. 2. Wolves are reintroduced, willow grows back, beavers return. 3. Wolves made valley floors dangerous, so elk moved on, willow grew, beavers returned and dammed, and roots held the banks.

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to RI.4.10 of the Common Core State Standards for English language arts.