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How Four Discoveries Changed Lives is a free printable Grade 3 to Grade 5 social studies worksheet on the causes and effects of four inventions, aligned to C3 Framework indicator D2.His.14.3-5. It prints 2 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two students in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

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How Four Discoveries Changed Lives

D2.His.14.3-5

NameDate

Read each information text, then answer the questions.

1.Read the information text, then answer the questions.

Louis Daguerre and the First Photographs

An information text written for this worksheet. Before 1839, the only way to keep a picture of a person or a place was to draw or paint it, which took a skilled artist many hours. Louis Daguerre, a French artist, worked for years on a way to fix an image made by light onto a metal plate. In 1839 the French government announced his method, called the daguerreotype, and soon made it free for people to use. Within a few years, photography studios opened in cities in Europe and the United States. For the first time, ordinary families could have pictures of themselves. Historians and newspaper artists could now work from real pictures of faces and places from events, not only drawings.

  1. 1. Why did ordinary families rarely have pictures of themselves before 1839?
  2. 2. What was Daguerre's method called?
  3. 3. Why could photography studios open in many cities within a few years?
2.Read the information text, then answer the questions.

Louis Pasteur and Safer Milk

An information text written for this worksheet. In the 1800s, milk and other foods often spoiled quickly, and milk could carry germs that made people, especially young children, very sick. Louis Pasteur, a French scientist, showed in the 1860s that tiny living things called microbes make food spoil. He found that heating a liquid such as wine for a short time, without boiling it, and then cooling it, killed most of the harmful microbes without ruining the taste. This method is named pasteurization, after him. Later, cities in Europe and the United States began to require that milk be pasteurized. Fewer children became sick from milk, and milk stayed fresh for longer, so it could be shipped farther.

  1. 1. Why could pasteurized milk be shipped farther?
  2. 2. What did Pasteur show makes food spoil?
  3. 3. Why did it matter that the method did not ruin the taste?

LessonPrint · D2.His.14.3-5 · Set 5 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — How Four Discoveries Changed Lives

Set 5. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. A picture had to be drawn or painted by a skilled artist, which took many hours. 2. The daguerreotype. 3. The French government made the method free for people to use.
  2. 2.1. It stayed fresh for longer. 2. Tiny living things called microbes. 3. People would keep drinking the milk, so the method could be used everywhere.

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to D2.His.14.3-5 of the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.