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

LessonPrint · D2.His.13.3-5 · Set 4 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Excellent Here, Useless There

Set 4. Prints on its own sheet.

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

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.