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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 17 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.

The Longitude Problem

A ship's latitude — how far north or south it is — can be found from the height of the sun at noon. Sailors could do that for centuries. Longitude, how far east or west, was the problem. It has no natural marker. The solution was known in principle: compare the time on board with the time at a fixed place. The Earth turns fifteen degrees an hour, so every hour of difference is fifteen degrees of longitude. That required a clock that stayed accurate on a rolling, salty, temperature-swinging ship. No such clock existed. John Harrison, a carpenter, spent forty-three years building four. The fourth, finished in 1759, was the size of a large pocket watch and lost five seconds in eighty-one days at sea.

  1. 1. Put these in order: Harrison finishes his fourth clock, the principle is known, latitude can be measured.
  2. 2. Explain the relationship between an accurate clock and knowing your longitude.
  3. 3. Summarise this text.
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. Summarise this text.
  3. 3. Explain the relationship between the dam and drought protection.

LessonPrint · RI.4.10 · Set 17 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Following a Chain of Causes

Set 17. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. Latitude can be measured, the principle is known, Harrison finishes his fourth clock. 2. Comparing shipboard time with time at a fixed place gives the hours of difference, and each hour is fifteen degrees. 3. Latitude was easy and longitude had no natural marker; comparing times would give it, and Harrison spent forty-three years building a clock accurate enough at sea.
  2. 2.1. The dam slows the water, silt drops out, rich wet ground forms. 2. 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. 3. The dam slows water, silt builds rich wet ground, and that ground holds water through a drought.

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