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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 7 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.The county builds a school in a village. What is the benefit?
  • A.Roads improve
  • B.Rates fall
  • C.Children no longer walk four miles to lessons
2.A farmer sends milk by train instead of by cart. What is the cost?
  • A.The cart is stolen
  • B.The milk goes sour
  • C.The fare he pays the railway company every day
3.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
4.A boatman retrains as a railway porter. What is the cost?
  • A.The railway is loud
  • B.Porters wear uniforms
  • C.The weeks he spends earning nothing while he learns
5.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
6.The county builds a school in a village. What is the cost?
  • A.Children get older
  • B.The rates every household must pay towards it
  • C.The village grows
7.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
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 7 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — What It Gains, What It Costs

Set 7. Prints on its own sheet.

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

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.