Skip to content
LessonPrint

Why It Is That Shape is a free printable Kindergarten to Grade 2 science worksheet on how the shape of a structure helps it do its job, aligned to Common Core standard K-2-ETS1-2. 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 12 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

Next setLesson plan

One paper per pupil

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

Why It Is That Shape

K-2-ETS1-2

NameDate

Draw a line from each shape to what it does.

LessonPrint · K-2-ETS1-2 · Set 12 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Why It Is That Shape

Set 12. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. A tower that is wide at the bottom — C (It stands up without toppling) 2. A roof that slopes — B (Rain runs off instead of collecting) 3. A bridge with a triangle frame — A (The triangles keep it from bending) 4. A net with small holes — D (It catches small things and lets water through)
  2. 2.1. A dam with a wide base — B (It holds back the water pushing on it) 2. A pipe that is round — D (Water flows through without catching on corners) 3. A wall built with the long side down — C (It is harder to push over than a tall thin one) 4. A groyne built out across a beach — A (It traps sand being carried along the shore)

More practice for K-2-ETS1-2

Draw or model how an object's shape helps it do its job.

Teaching this next? Why It Is That Shape 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-ETS1-2 of the Next Generation Science Standards.