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Where It Gives Way is a free printable Grade 3 to Grade 5 science worksheet on fair tests with variables controlled to find failure points, aligned to Common Core standard 3-5-ETS1-3. 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 5 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.

Where It Gives Way

3-5-ETS1-3

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

1.A shelter collapses at the same corner every time. What is that?
  • A.Bad luck
  • B.A failure point, and the thing to redesign
  • C.A reason to stop testing
2.What should be recorded besides the result?
  • A.Who was fastest
  • B.The weather outside
  • C.What was held the same, so somebody else can judge the test
3.You strengthen the corner and it fails somewhere else. What does that mean?
  • A.Nothing was learned
  • B.The design got worse
  • C.The failure point moved, so the first fix worked
4.You change the material and the joints at the same time. What is the problem?
  • A.You cannot tell which change caused the difference
  • B.Nothing, it improved
  • C.Two changes are always better
5.Why repeat a test three times?
  • A.To fill the lesson
  • B.One result might be a bad build rather than a bad design
  • C.To use more materials
6.A test shows no failure at all. What should you do?
  • A.Declare it perfect
  • B.Increase the load until it does, to find the limit
  • C.Stop testing
7.Why add load in equal steps rather than all at once?
  • A.It looks tidier
  • B.It is quicker
  • C.So you can tell at what load it failed
8.You test two shelters in the wind. What must be identical?
  • A.The colours
  • B.The wind speed, the exposure and how you judge failure
  • C.The names of the builders

LessonPrint · 3-5-ETS1-3 · Set 5 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Where It Gives Way

Set 5. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.A failure point, and the thing to redesign
  2. 2.What was held the same, so somebody else can judge the test
  3. 3.The failure point moved, so the first fix worked
  4. 4.You cannot tell which change caused the difference
  5. 5.One result might be a bad build rather than a bad design
  6. 6.Increase the load until it does, to find the limit
  7. 7.So you can tell at what load it failed
  8. 8.The wind speed, the exposure and how you judge failure

More practice for 3-5-ETS1-3

Run fair tests, controlling the variables, to find what to improve.

Teaching this next? Where It Gives Way is the 55-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.

All Grade 3 to Grade 5 worksheets

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to 3-5-ETS1-3 of the Next Generation Science Standards.