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A District That Does One Thing is a free printable Grade 3 to Grade 5 social studies worksheet on why places specialise and then trade, aligned to Common Core standard D2.Eco.4.3-5. 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 11 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.

A District That Does One Thing

D2.Eco.4.3-5

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

1.Why did the harbour district handle cargo rather than make cloth?
  • A.It had deep water, so moving goods was what it did best
  • B.Harbours cannot weave
  • C.Cloth is heavy
2.Why did the uplands not specialise successfully?
  • A.Uplands are cold
  • B.Nobody tried
  • C.It had no way to move enough of one thing to a market
3.Why does specialising need a harbour or a railway?
  • A.Rails are modern
  • B.Ships are pleasant
  • C.Because what you do not make must be brought in
4.Why did the mill district spin cotton it could not grow?
  • A.It had the frames, the skill and the power, and traded for the cotton
  • B.Cotton grows in mills
  • C.Growing was forbidden
5.Why does a mason emigrate rather than take mill work?
  • A.Mills refuse masons
  • B.His skill is worth more where building is going on
  • C.Masons dislike cotton
6.What must exist before a district can live by one trade?
  • A.Good weather
  • B.A large population
  • C.A reliable way to trade for everything else it needs
7.What is the risk the region took by specialising in cotton?
  • A.Cotton is flammable
  • B.When cotton grew dear, the whole district's wages fell
  • C.Frames wear out
8.The region imported 22,000 tons of grain. What does that show?
  • A.It specialised away from growing its own food
  • B.Grain will not grow
  • C.Farmers were idle

LessonPrint · D2.Eco.4.3-5 · Set 11 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — A District That Does One Thing

Set 11. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.It had deep water, so moving goods was what it did best
  2. 2.It had no way to move enough of one thing to a market
  3. 3.Because what you do not make must be brought in
  4. 4.It had the frames, the skill and the power, and traded for the cotton
  5. 5.His skill is worth more where building is going on
  6. 6.A reliable way to trade for everything else it needs
  7. 7.When cotton grew dear, the whole district's wages fell
  8. 8.It specialised away from growing its own food

More practice for D2.Eco.4.3-5

Explain why people and businesses each do one thing and then trade.

Teaching this next? A District That Does One Thing is the 50-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.4.3-5 of the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.