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Excellent Here, Useless There is a free printable Grade 3 to Grade 5 social studies worksheet on judging a source's usefulness for a topic, aligned to Common Core standard D2.His.13.3-5. 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 23 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.

Excellent Here, Useless There

D2.His.13.3-5

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

1.Topic: who could not afford to leave. How useful is the ledger?
  • A.Useless: it lists only those who paid
  • B.Complete on its own
  • C.Useful: it records a deferred, unpaid passage
2.Topic: where people moved. How useful is the census abstract?
  • A.Very useful: it gives district totals for two years
  • B.Very useful: it gives reasons
  • C.Useless: it is only numbers
3.Topic: what mill hands earned. How useful is the harbour return?
  • A.Of almost no use: it records cargo, not wages
  • B.Useful for the wage rate
  • C.Very useful: dues are wages
4.Topic: the region's trade. How useful is the harbour return?
  • A.Very useful: it lists tonnages and dues for a full year
  • B.Complete on its own
  • C.Useless without prices
5.Topic: why people moved. How useful is the same abstract?
  • A.Useless: censuses are unreliable
  • B.Not very useful: it counts people and records no reasons
  • C.Very useful: it explains motives
6.Why can the same source be excellent and useless in one lesson?
  • A.Sources change
  • B.Usefulness depends on the question, not on the source alone
  • C.Some sources are always best
7.Topic: health and housing. How useful is the medical officer's table?
  • A.Useful: it links districts, deaths and piped water
  • B.Complete on its own
  • C.Useless: it gives no causes
8.Topic: the owners' case in 1893. How useful is the union circular?
  • A.Of no use whatever
  • B.Directly useful: the owners wrote it
  • C.Useful indirectly: it quotes the profits the owners did not

LessonPrint · D2.His.13.3-5 · Set 23 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Excellent Here, Useless There

Set 23. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.Useful: it records a deferred, unpaid passage
  2. 2.Very useful: it gives district totals for two years
  3. 3.Of almost no use: it records cargo, not wages
  4. 4.Very useful: it lists tonnages and dues for a full year
  5. 5.Not very useful: it counts people and records no reasons
  6. 6.Usefulness depends on the question, not on the source alone
  7. 7.Useful: it links districts, deaths and piped water
  8. 8.Useful indirectly: it quotes the profits the owners did not

More practice for D2.His.13.3-5

Judge how useful a source is for a particular topic.

Teaching this next? Excellent Here, Useless There 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.His.13.3-5 of the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.