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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.

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.

What It Gains, What It Costs

D2.Eco.1.3-5

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

1.A boatman retrains as a railway porter. What is the cost?
  • A.The railway is loud
  • B.The weeks he spends earning nothing while he learns
  • C.Porters wear uniforms
2.A traveller pays 6 pence for third class. What is the cost?
  • A.He arrives later
  • B.He travels open to the weather
  • C.He must walk
3.A boatman stays on the canal after 1846. What is the cost?
  • A.The canal freezes
  • B.He earns less as cargo moves to the railway
  • C.He must learn to swim
4.The county builds a school in a village. What is the cost?
  • A.The village grows
  • B.The rates every household must pay towards it
  • C.Children get older
5.The county builds a school in a village. What is the benefit?
  • A.Children no longer walk four miles to lessons
  • B.Roads improve
  • C.Rates fall
6.A traveller pays 2 shillings for first class. What is the benefit?
  • A.He pays no fare
  • B.He is not open to the weather on the journey
  • C.He arrives sooner
7.The canal company cuts its charges. What is the cost to the company?
  • A.The canal dries up
  • B.Barges get slower
  • C.It earns less on every ton it carries
8.A farmer sends milk by train instead of by cart. What is the cost?
  • A.The milk goes sour
  • B.The fare he pays the railway company every day
  • C.The cart is stolen

LessonPrint · D2.Eco.1.3-5 · Set 19 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — What It Gains, What It Costs

Set 19. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.The weeks he spends earning nothing while he learns
  2. 2.He travels open to the weather
  3. 3.He earns less as cargo moves to the railway
  4. 4.The rates every household must pay towards it
  5. 5.Children no longer walk four miles to lessons
  6. 6.He is not open to the weather on the journey
  7. 7.It earns less on every ton it carries
  8. 8.The fare he pays the railway company every day

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.