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Gains and Strains of Acting Together is a free printable Grade 3 to Grade 5 social studies worksheet on benefits and challenges of working together, aligned to Common Core standard D2.Civ.6.3-5. 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 4 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.

Gains and Strains of Acting Together

D2.Civ.6.3-5

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

1.Why did the canal company cut charges rather than each boatman alone?
  • A.Boatmen were lazy
  • B.The company set the tolls, so only it could change them
  • C.Charges cannot change
2.What is the challenge of pooling rates?
  • A.Money raised in one village may be spent in another
  • B.Counting is hard
  • C.Money is heavy
3.What does the petition show about acting together and losing?
  • A.It always works
  • B.It never works
  • C.Acting together does not guarantee success, but it leaves a record
4.What was hard about the boatmen acting together?
  • A.They lived far apart
  • B.They had to agree what to ask for, and some wanted different things
  • C.They could not write
5.A county council pools rates from many villages. What is the benefit?
  • A.Rates go down
  • B.Villages get bigger
  • C.Villages too small to build a school alone can share the cost
6.What is the challenge of farmers acting together?
  • A.Cows disagree
  • B.Milk is heavy
  • C.They must all get their milk to the station at the same hour
7.Eighty-four boatmen signed one petition. What did working together gain them?
  • A.It was quicker to write
  • B.One document carried more weight than 84 separate complaints
  • C.It saved paper
8.Farmers sending milk by rail together. What is the benefit?
  • A.Cows work harder
  • B.Milk keeps longer
  • C.A full wagon costs less per churn than a part-full one

LessonPrint · D2.Civ.6.3-5 · Set 4 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Gains and Strains of Acting Together

Set 4. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.The company set the tolls, so only it could change them
  2. 2.Money raised in one village may be spent in another
  3. 3.Acting together does not guarantee success, but it leaves a record
  4. 4.They had to agree what to ask for, and some wanted different things
  5. 5.Villages too small to build a school alone can share the cost
  6. 6.They must all get their milk to the station at the same hour
  7. 7.One document carried more weight than 84 separate complaints
  8. 8.A full wagon costs less per churn than a part-full one

More practice for D2.Civ.6.3-5

Describe what people gain from working together, and what is hard about it.

Teaching this next? What Acting Together Costs 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.Civ.6.3-5 of the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.