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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.

Set 16 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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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.

What a Coral Reef Is

A coral reef looks like rock and is built by animals. A coral polyp is a soft creature the size of a pinhead. It draws calcium from the sea water and builds a hard cup around itself. Millions of polyps, cup upon cup, become a reef. Inside each polyp live tiny algae. The algae make food from sunlight and pass most of it to the polyp. In exchange they get shelter and the polyp's waste. Neither could build a reef alone. When the water gets too warm, the polyps expel the algae. Without them the coral turns white and starves. That is what bleaching means. A reef takes centuries to build and can bleach in a single hot summer.

  1. 1. Put these in order: the coral turns white, the water warms, the polyps expel the algae.
  2. 2. Summarise this text.
  3. 3. Explain the relationship between the polyp and the algae.
2.Read the text, then answer the questions.

What a Beaver Dam Does

A beaver does not build a dam for shelter. It builds one to make a pond, and it lives in a lodge in the pond. The dam raises the water so the lodge entrance stays underwater. A predator that cannot swim cannot get in. But the pond does far more than protect one family. Behind a dam, water slows, and slow water drops the silt it carries. Over years this builds rich wet ground. That ground holds water in a drought and holds it back in a flood. It supports plants, insects, amphibians and birds that were not there before. Where beavers have been reintroduced, the number of species in a valley typically rises within five years.

  1. 1. Put these in order: rich wet ground forms, the dam slows the water, silt drops out.
  2. 2. Explain the relationship between the dam and drought protection.
  3. 3. Summarise this text.

LessonPrint · RI.4.10 · Set 16 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Following a Chain of Causes

Set 16. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. The water warms, the polyps expel the algae, the coral turns white. 2. Coral reefs are built by pinhead-sized polyps that make calcium cups and live in partnership with algae, and warm water breaks that partnership and bleaches the reef. 3. The algae make food from sunlight and give most of it to the polyp; the polyp gives them shelter and its waste. Neither builds a reef alone.
  2. 2.1. The dam slows the water, silt drops out, rich wet ground forms. 2. The dam slows water, silt builds rich wet ground, and that ground holds water through a drought. 3. A beaver dams a river to make a pond with an underwater lodge entrance, and the slowed water builds wet ground that buffers drought and flood and raises species numbers.

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