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Testing Until It Fails is a free printable Grade 3 to Grade 5 science worksheet on fair tests with variables controlled to find what to improve, 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 21 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.

Testing Until It Fails

3-5-ETS1-3

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

1.Why is identifying a failure point more useful than a pass or fail?
  • A.It is not more useful
  • B.It tells you exactly what to improve
  • C.It is quicker to write
2.After the seal is fixed, the frame collapses instead. What does that show?
  • A.The design got worse
  • B.Nothing was learned
  • C.The failure point moved, so the first fix worked
3.A prototype passes every test easily. What should you do next?
  • A.Test it harder until it fails, to find its limit
  • B.Stop testing
  • C.Declare it finished
4.You change the filter material and the seal together. What is the problem?
  • A.It saves a lesson
  • B.Nothing, it improved
  • C.You cannot attribute the change in performance to either
5.A filter leaks at the seal every time. What is that?
  • A.Bad luck
  • B.A failure point, and the thing to redesign first
  • C.A reason to abandon the design
6.Why run each test three times?
  • A.One run may reflect a build fault rather than the design
  • B.To use more water
  • C.To fill the lesson
7.You test three filter designs. What must be identical?
  • A.The colour of the containers
  • B.Who pours
  • C.The water, the volume poured and how clarity is judged
8.What should be recorded besides the result?
  • A.The weather
  • B.Every variable held constant, so somebody else can judge the test
  • C.Who worked hardest

LessonPrint · 3-5-ETS1-3 · Set 21 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Testing Until It Fails

Set 21. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.It tells you exactly what to improve
  2. 2.The failure point moved, so the first fix worked
  3. 3.Test it harder until it fails, to find its limit
  4. 4.You cannot attribute the change in performance to either
  5. 5.A failure point, and the thing to redesign first
  6. 6.One run may reflect a build fault rather than the design
  7. 7.The water, the volume poured and how clarity is judged
  8. 8.Every variable held constant, so somebody else can judge the test

More practice for 3-5-ETS1-3

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

Teaching this next? Testing Until It Fails is the 60-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.