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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 9 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.Rates fall
  • B.Roads improve
  • C.Children no longer walk four miles to lessons
2.A farmer sends milk by train instead of by cart. What is the benefit?
  • A.The cart lasts longer
  • B.The horse eats less hay
  • C.The milk reaches the town fresh in one hour
3.The canal company cuts its charges. What is the cost to the company?
  • A.It earns less on every ton it carries
  • B.The canal dries up
  • C.Barges get slower
4.The canal company cuts its charges. What is the benefit to the company?
  • A.It keeps some custom that would have gone to the railway
  • B.Boats get bigger
  • C.Tolls rise
5.A boatman stays on the canal after 1846. What is the cost?
  • A.He earns less as cargo moves to the railway
  • B.The canal freezes
  • C.He must learn to swim
6.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
7.A traveller pays 2 shillings for first class. What is the benefit?
  • A.He pays no fare
  • B.He arrives sooner
  • C.He is not open to the weather on the journey
8.A boatman retrains as a railway porter. What is the cost?
  • A.Porters wear uniforms
  • B.The railway is loud
  • C.The weeks he spends earning nothing while he learns

LessonPrint · D2.Eco.1.3-5 · Set 9 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — What It Gains, What It Costs

Set 9. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.Children no longer walk four miles to lessons
  2. 2.The milk reaches the town fresh in one hour
  3. 3.It earns less on every ton it carries
  4. 4.It keeps some custom that would have gone to the railway
  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.The weeks he spends earning nothing while he learns

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.