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Wreck, Fever and Failed Harvest is a free printable Grade 3 to Grade 5 social studies worksheet on effects of catastrophic events on settlement, aligned to Common Core standard D2.Geo.9.3-5. 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.

Wreck, Fever and Failed Harvest

D2.Geo.9.3-5

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

1.A town's population jumps after a rural disaster. What does that suggest?
  • A.More babies were born
  • B.The town grew in area
  • C.People moved from the countryside to the town for work
2.Who stays after a disaster, and why?
  • A.Those with land, family or age that ties them to the place
  • B.Only the wealthy
  • C.Nobody at all
3.The mill burns down. What happens to the district?
  • A.Hands must find work elsewhere or leave the district
  • B.Wages rise
  • C.The mill rebuilds itself
4.Why is a wage cut not quite a disaster?
  • A.It reduces a living rather than destroying the means of one
  • B.It affects nobody
  • C.It is over quickly
5.Fever sweeps the mill district. What follows?
  • A.The mill expands
  • B.Deaths rise, and pressure grows for piped water
  • C.Wages rise
6.Three vessels are lost in one year. What follows for the harbour district?
  • A.More ships come
  • B.Nothing changes
  • C.Families lose their earners, and the board is pressed to build a light
7.What does the emigration ledger record about such years?
  • A.Harvest yields
  • B.Passages booked by people whose trade had failed
  • C.Ship repairs
8.A harvest fails across the uplands for three years. What follows?
  • A.Everybody stays
  • B.Rents fall to nothing
  • C.Families give up their holdings and move to the mills or abroad

LessonPrint · D2.Geo.9.3-5 · Set 4 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Wreck, Fever and Failed Harvest

Set 4. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.People moved from the countryside to the town for work
  2. 2.Those with land, family or age that ties them to the place
  3. 3.Hands must find work elsewhere or leave the district
  4. 4.It reduces a living rather than destroying the means of one
  5. 5.Deaths rise, and pressure grows for piped water
  6. 6.Families lose their earners, and the board is pressed to build a light
  7. 7.Passages booked by people whose trade had failed
  8. 8.Families give up their holdings and move to the mills or abroad

More practice for D2.Geo.9.3-5

Work out how a disaster changes where people live and where they move.

Teaching this next? Wreck, Fever and Failed Harvest 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.Geo.9.3-5 of the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.