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Doing One Thing Well is a free printable Grade 3 to Grade 5 social studies worksheet on why people specialise and then trade, aligned to Common Core standard D2.Eco.4.3-5. 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 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.

Doing One Thing Well

D2.Eco.4.3-5

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

1.Why did the valley send corn to the town and get manufactured goods back?
  • A.Corn will not keep
  • B.Each place made what it was better placed to make and traded the rest
  • C.The town had no fields
2.Why does the blacksmith not also grow his own corn?
  • A.He dislikes fields
  • B.Corn is illegal
  • C.He earns more in the hours he spends at the forge than at the plough
3.Why did the railway make specialising easier in the valley?
  • A.Trains carry corn only
  • B.Goods could reach a wider market in one hour instead of a day
  • C.Farmers worked harder
4.What is the risk of specialising in one thing?
  • A.If demand for that one thing falls, you have nothing else to sell
  • B.You get bored
  • C.Your tools rust
5.The wharf labourers specialised in canal cargo. What happened in 1846?
  • A.The canal was filled in
  • B.They became farmers at once
  • C.The railway took the cargo and their one skill lost its market
6.Why does the farmer not shoe his own horses?
  • A.Farmers cannot lift hammers
  • B.Horses object
  • C.The blacksmith does it faster and better, so trading is cheaper for both
7.Why did the miller not also make the barrels?
  • A.Millers work at night
  • B.Barrels are heavy
  • C.The cooper had the tools and skill, so the miller bought barrels instead
8.What does specialising need before it can work?
  • A.Good weather
  • B.A large family
  • C.A way to trade what you made for what you did not

LessonPrint · D2.Eco.4.3-5 · Set 20 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Doing One Thing Well

Set 20. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.Each place made what it was better placed to make and traded the rest
  2. 2.He earns more in the hours he spends at the forge than at the plough
  3. 3.Goods could reach a wider market in one hour instead of a day
  4. 4.If demand for that one thing falls, you have nothing else to sell
  5. 5.The railway took the cargo and their one skill lost its market
  6. 6.The blacksmith does it faster and better, so trading is cheaper for both
  7. 7.The cooper had the tools and skill, so the miller bought barrels instead
  8. 8.A way to trade what you made for what you did not

More practice for D2.Eco.4.3-5

Explain why people and businesses each do one thing and then trade.

Teaching this next? Doing One Thing, Trading for the Rest is the 45-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.

All Grade 3 to Grade 5 worksheets

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to D2.Eco.4.3-5 of the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.