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. Why test the device before using it for real?
A. To make it look used B. To find out whether the message actually gets through C. To use up time 2. What must a device do to count as solving the problem?
A. Look impressive B. Be quick to build C. Get the message across the distance 3. Why agree what each flash means before you start?
A. So it looks tidy B. So it takes longer C. So the other person can work out the message 4. 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 5. Your partner cannot see your signal. What should you change?
A. Make it bigger or brighter B. Send it more quietly C. Send it faster 6. Your sound signal works close up and not far away. What does that show?
A. Sound cannot travel B. The partner is not listening C. The sound is too quiet to carry that far 7. You must send a message in the dark. What works best?
A. Waving a card B. Pointing C. A torch flashing 8. You must send a message across a noisy playground. What works best?
A. Tapping two sticks B. Something seen, like a bright waved card C. Whispering LessonPrint · 1-PS4-4 · Set 23 · free to copy for classroom use
Answer key — Getting a Message Across Set 23. Prints on its own sheet.
1. To find out whether the message actually gets through 2. Get the message across the distance 3. So the other person can work out the message 4. One flash for yes, two for no 5. Make it bigger or brighter 6. The sound is too quiet to carry that far 7. A torch flashing 8. Something seen, like a bright waved card 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.
All Grade 1 worksheets
Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to 1-PS4-4 of the Next Generation Science Standards.