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Useful For What, Exactly? is a free printable Grade 3 to Grade 5 social studies worksheet on judging a source's usefulness for a topic, aligned to Common Core standard D2.His.13.3-5. 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 19 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.

Useful For What, Exactly?

D2.His.13.3-5

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

1.Topic: what the railway company thought. How useful is the petition?
  • A.Not useful directly: it gives the objectors' case, not the company's
  • B.Very useful: the company wrote it
  • C.Useless: petitions say nothing
2.Why does usefulness depend on the topic and not only on the source?
  • A.Old sources are always best
  • B.A source precise about one thing can be silent about another
  • C.Some sources are always useful
3.Topic: who worked on the barges. How useful is the toll table?
  • A.Very useful: it names every boatman
  • B.Useless: tables are never evidence
  • C.Not very useful: it is silent about the people
4.Topic: hardship in the valley. How useful is the workhouse register?
  • A.Useless: it is only a list
  • B.Useful only for dates
  • C.Very useful: it names people and records why they had no work
5.Topic: what goods the canal carried. How useful is the toll table?
  • A.Useless: it is only a table
  • B.Very useful: it names the boatmen
  • C.Very useful: it lists the cargoes and the charge for each
6.Topic: who could afford to travel. How useful is the timetable?
  • A.Fully useful on its own
  • B.Partly useful: it gives fares, but not what people earned
  • C.Of no use at all
7.Topic: the county's trades in 1850. How useful is the directory?
  • A.Very useful: it counts the trades, though not what they were paid
  • B.Complete on its own
  • C.Useless without wages
8.Topic: how the opening was greeted. How useful is the newspaper report?
  • A.Useful, though it is one paper's view of the day
  • B.Of no use at all
  • C.Perfectly neutral and complete

LessonPrint · D2.His.13.3-5 · Set 19 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Useful For What, Exactly?

Set 19. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.Not useful directly: it gives the objectors' case, not the company's
  2. 2.A source precise about one thing can be silent about another
  3. 3.Not very useful: it is silent about the people
  4. 4.Very useful: it names people and records why they had no work
  5. 5.Very useful: it lists the cargoes and the charge for each
  6. 6.Partly useful: it gives fares, but not what people earned
  7. 7.Very useful: it counts the trades, though not what they were paid
  8. 8.Useful, though it is one paper's view of the day

More practice for D2.His.13.3-5

Judge how useful a source is for a particular topic.

Teaching this next? Useful For What, Exactly? 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.His.13.3-5 of the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.