Home / Science / Printables / Grade 1 / Getting a Message Across Getting a Message Across is a free printable Grade 1 science worksheet on designing a device that sends a message with light or sound, aligned to Common Core standard 1-PS4-4. It prints 8 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.
One paper per pupil
Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.
Getting a Message Across 1-PS4-4
Name Date
Circle the best answer.
1. Your partner cannot see your signal. What should you change?
A. Send it faster B. Send it more quietly C. Make it bigger or brighter 2. You must send a message in the dark. What works best?
A. Waving a card B. Pointing C. A torch flashing 3. What must a device do to count as solving the problem?
A. Look impressive B. Get the message across the distance C. Be quick to build 4. Why test the device before using it for real?
A. To use up time B. To make it look used C. To find out whether the message actually gets through 5. Why agree what each flash means before you start?
A. So the other person can work out the message B. So it looks tidy C. So it takes longer 6. You must send a message across a noisy playground. What works best?
A. Whispering B. Tapping two sticks C. Something seen, like a bright waved card 7. Your sound signal works close up and not far away. What does that show?
A. The sound is too quiet to carry that far B. Sound cannot travel C. The partner is not listening 8. Which message could a torch send most easily?
A. One flash for yes, two for no B. A whole story C. A list of names LessonPrint · 1-PS4-4 · Set 20 · free to copy for classroom use
Answer key — Getting a Message Across Set 20. Prints on its own sheet.
1. Make it bigger or brighter 2. A torch flashing 3. Get the message across the distance 4. To find out whether the message actually gets through 5. So the other person can work out the message 6. Something seen, like a bright waved card 7. The sound is too quiet to carry that far 8. One flash for yes, two for no More practice for 1-PS4-4 Build something that sends a message across a distance using light or sound.
Teaching this next? Getting a Message Across is the 50-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.
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Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to 1-PS4-4 of the Next Generation Science Standards.