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What It Gains, What It Costs is a free printable Grade 3 to Grade 5 social studies worksheet on comparing the benefits and costs of a choice, aligned to Common Core standard D2.Eco.1.3-5. 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.

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All 25 sets ask different questions.

What It Gains, What It Costs

D2.Eco.1.3-5

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

1.The county builds a school in a village. What is the cost?
  • A.The village grows
  • B.Children get older
  • C.The rates every household must pay towards it
2.A farmer sends milk by train instead of by cart. What is the benefit?
  • A.The cart lasts longer
  • B.The milk reaches the town fresh in one hour
  • C.The horse eats less hay
3.A boatman stays on the canal after 1846. What is the cost?
  • A.He must learn to swim
  • B.The canal freezes
  • C.He earns less as cargo moves to the railway
4.The county builds a school in a village. What is the benefit?
  • A.Rates fall
  • B.Children no longer walk four miles to lessons
  • C.Roads improve
5.A farmer sends milk by train instead of by cart. What is the cost?
  • A.The milk goes sour
  • B.The cart is stolen
  • C.The fare he pays the railway company every day
6.A boatman retrains as a railway porter. What is the cost?
  • A.The weeks he spends earning nothing while he learns
  • B.Porters wear uniforms
  • C.The railway is loud
7.A traveller pays 6 pence for third class. What is the cost?
  • A.He must walk
  • B.He travels open to the weather
  • C.He arrives later
8.The canal company cuts its charges. What is the benefit to the company?
  • A.Boats get bigger
  • B.It keeps some custom that would have gone to the railway
  • C.Tolls rise

LessonPrint · D2.Eco.1.3-5 · Set 1 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — What It Gains, What It Costs

Set 1. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.The rates every household must pay towards it
  2. 2.The milk reaches the town fresh in one hour
  3. 3.He earns less as cargo moves to the railway
  4. 4.Children no longer walk four miles to lessons
  5. 5.The fare he pays the railway company every day
  6. 6.The weeks he spends earning nothing while he learns
  7. 7.He travels open to the weather
  8. 8.It keeps some custom that would have gone to the railway

Questions about What It Gains, What It Costs

What does the What It Gains, What It Costs worksheet cover?

It practises comparing the benefits and costs of a choice — 8 questions for Grade 3 to Grade 5, all on Common Core D2.Eco.1.3-5: Weigh up what a choice gains against what it costs. The instruction to pupils is “Circle the best answer”, and the answer key follows on the next sheet.

Which Common Core standard does What It Gains, What It Costs practise?

D2.Eco.1.3-5 — D2.Eco.1.3-5, in the Economics domain for Grade 3 to Grade 5. The published standard reads: “Compare the benefits and costs of individual choices.” The worksheet assesses that standard rather than a paraphrase of it.

What age or grade is this worksheet for?

What It Gains, What It Costs is written for Grade 3 to Grade 5, typically ages 40-41. It is one of the sheets on D2.Eco.1.3-5, so it suits any pupil working at that standard — including older pupils revisiting it and younger ones working ahead.

Does What It Gains, What It Costs come with an answer key?

Yes. All 8 answers are generated from the same problems as the questions, so the key cannot drift out of step with the sheet. It starts on a fresh sheet of paper, after the questions, so it is not handed out with the class by accident.

How many different versions of What It Gains, What It Costs can I print?

25 — one per pupil, and all 25 ask different questions. Set 1 downloads the whole class as a single PDF. Every version is fixed to its own address, so a sheet printed today holds the same problems when you reopen it next week.

Is What It Gains, What It Costs free to print and photocopy?

Yes. What It Gains, What It Costs, its answer key and its 25 versions are free to print and photocopy for your own class, with no account, no email capture and no subscription at the download step. Please do not resell them or republish them as your own.

Is there a lesson plan to teach D2.Eco.1.3-5?

Yes — “Gains on One Side, Costs on the Other” is a 45-minute Grade 3 to Grade 5 plan for D2.Eco.1.3-5, timed section by section, with the misconceptions to expect and an exit ticket. What It Gains, What It Costs is the practice that follows it.

More practice for D2.Eco.1.3-5

Weigh up what a choice gains against what it costs.

Teaching this next? Gains on One Side, Costs on the Other 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.1.3-5 of the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.