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Why They Stayed and Why They Moved is a free printable Grade 3 to Grade 5 social studies worksheet on why population is distributed as it is, aligned to Common Core standard D2.Geo.6.3-5. 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 15 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.

Why They Stayed and Why They Moved

D2.Geo.6.3-5

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

1.What made building upward attractive in some cities and not others?
  • A.The height of the hills
  • B.Local taste in bricks
  • C.How much land was left, and whether the city could spread
2.Why did people crowd into cities after 1946 despite the damage?
  • A.The work was there, and rebuilding itself created more of it
  • B.Villages were closed
  • C.Cities are warmer
3.Why do people stay in a damaged district?
  • A.Work, family and the cost of moving all hold them there
  • B.They cannot travel
  • C.They are not told
4.Why did a family live four to a room rather than move?
  • A.There was nowhere else within reach of the work
  • B.They preferred it
  • C.Moving was banned
5.Why does a district with cleared land not automatically fill first?
  • A.Materials and labour also have to be allocated to it
  • B.Cleared land is unsafe
  • C.Nobody wants it
6.Why were new estates built on the edges of cities?
  • A.Edges are prettier
  • B.Centres were forbidden
  • C.Cleared central land was limited and edge land was available
7.Why did some villages lose people in this period?
  • A.Villages are cold
  • B.Farms were banned
  • C.Work and new housing were both concentrated in the cities
8.What would you need to explain a district's population change properly?
  • A.The district's name
  • B.The weather
  • C.Where the work was and where the new homes were built

LessonPrint · D2.Geo.6.3-5 · Set 15 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Why They Stayed and Why They Moved

Set 15. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.How much land was left, and whether the city could spread
  2. 2.The work was there, and rebuilding itself created more of it
  3. 3.Work, family and the cost of moving all hold them there
  4. 4.There was nowhere else within reach of the work
  5. 5.Materials and labour also have to be allocated to it
  6. 6.Cleared central land was limited and edge land was available
  7. 7.Work and new housing were both concentrated in the cities
  8. 8.Where the work was and where the new homes were built

More practice for D2.Geo.6.3-5

Describe why people live where they live.

Teaching this next? Why They Stayed and Why They Moved is the 55-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.6.3-5 of the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.