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Is That Design Worth It? is a free printable Grade 3 science worksheet on judging the merit of a design that reduces a weather hazard, aligned to Common Core standard 3-ESS3-1. It prints 7 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 20 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.

Is That Design Worth It?

3-ESS3-1

NameDate

Read the survey, then answer.

1.Read the record, then answer the questions.

After the Storm

A survey of the school grounds the morning after a gale, with the weather record for that week. THE WEEK AND THE DAMAGE Mon-Thu: light wind, no damage Friday: gale, gusts to 70 mph Damage: 3 fence panels down, 1 tree branch broken, bins across the yard The bins in the sheltered corner did not move. The fence on the sheltered side did not fall.

  1. 1. Why did the sheltered fence stay up?
  2. 2. What claim does this survey support?
2.Why can no design remove a weather hazard completely?
  • A.Weather never repeats
  • B.Designs are always poor
  • C.Weather can always be more severe than a design was built for
3.Bins in the sheltered corner did not move in the gale. What design does that suggest?
  • A.Moving the bins into the wind
  • B.Heavier bin lids only
  • C.A windbreak round the bin area
4.A design works in a light gale but not a severe one. What should you say?
  • A.It reduces some damage but not all, and say at what strength it fails
  • B.It works perfectly
  • C.It does not work
5.A flood barrier protects one street and floods the next. How do you judge it?
  • A.Only count the street it saved
  • B.Count the harm it moves as well as the harm it stops
  • C.Ignore the second street
6.What should a claim about a design's merit include?
  • A.Evidence of what it reduced, and what it cost
  • B.Only how it looks
  • C.Only what it cost
7.What makes a hazard design worth its cost?
  • A.It is quick to make
  • B.It reduces damage by more than it costs to build
  • C.It looks impressive

LessonPrint · 3-ESS3-1 · Set 20 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Is That Design Worth It?

Set 20. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. It was out of the gale, so less wind pushed on it. 2. Shelter reduces the damage a gale does.
  2. 2.Weather can always be more severe than a design was built for
  3. 3.A windbreak round the bin area
  4. 4.It reduces some damage but not all, and say at what strength it fails
  5. 5.Count the harm it moves as well as the harm it stops
  6. 6.Evidence of what it reduced, and what it cost
  7. 7.It reduces damage by more than it costs to build

More practice for 3-ESS3-1

Judge a design meant to reduce the damage from a weather hazard.

Teaching this next? Is That Design Worth It? is the 55-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.

All Grade 3 worksheets

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to 3-ESS3-1 of the Next Generation Science Standards.