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Finding Out Before Deciding is a free printable Kindergarten to Grade 2 science worksheet on gathering information to define a problem, aligned to Common Core standard K-2-ETS1-1. 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.

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

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One paper per pupil

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

Finding Out Before Deciding

K-2-ETS1-1

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

1.Why write the problem down before designing?
  • A.So the solution can be judged against it later
  • B.So the sheet is full
  • C.So it takes longer
2.The bank by the playground washes away in heavy rain. What is the problem to solve?
  • A.Why it rains
  • B.Who owns the bank
  • C.How to hold the soil on the bank when it rains
3.Why ask the caretaker about the bank?
  • A.He has watched it for longer and has information you do not
  • B.He owns a spade
  • C.He is busy
4.Two pupils describe the bank problem differently. What comes first?
  • A.Voting on who is nicer
  • B.Agreeing one problem to solve
  • C.Building both ideas
5.Before designing a barrier, what information would help?
  • A.How much soil washes down in one storm
  • B.Who noticed it first
  • C.What colour the soil is
6.You gather information and the problem turns out to be different. What should you do?
  • A.Ignore what you found
  • B.Change the problem statement to match what you found
  • C.Build the first idea anyway
7.A pupil says 'make the bank better'. What is missing?
  • A.A colour
  • B.A name
  • C.What better would mean, and how you would know
8.Which of these is a problem a new object could solve?
  • A.Soil washes onto the path every time it rains
  • B.The path is grey
  • C.It rains in autumn

LessonPrint · K-2-ETS1-1 · Set 16 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Finding Out Before Deciding

Set 16. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.So the solution can be judged against it later
  2. 2.How to hold the soil on the bank when it rains
  3. 3.He has watched it for longer and has information you do not
  4. 4.Agreeing one problem to solve
  5. 5.How much soil washes down in one storm
  6. 6.Change the problem statement to match what you found
  7. 7.What better would mean, and how you would know
  8. 8.Soil washes onto the path every time it rains

More practice for K-2-ETS1-1

Ask, look and gather information to define a problem worth solving.

Teaching this next? Finding Out Before Deciding is the 50-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.

All Kindergarten to Grade 2 worksheets

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to K-2-ETS1-1 of the Next Generation Science Standards.