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Routes to Elmstone Market worksheet preview

Worksheet

Routes to Elmstone Market

Study how landforms and transportation routes affect settlement, trade and travel around a busy farmers market.

Grade 4Social StudiesInteractive · Printable

Aligned toGEO.4.4

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What’s included

  • Single worksheet
  • Auto-graded online
  • 1 C3 Framework standard
  • Printable answer key
  • 14 questions
  • Classroom-ready

Details

Format
Interactive · Printable
Grade
Grade 4
Subject
Social Studies
Question types
Fill in the blank, Multiple choice, Circle the answer, Sorting, Short answer

About this worksheet

What students practice

  • Students explain how landforms affect transportation and where people settle.
  • Students use a graph to compare travel times and connect routes to trade.

How to use

Read the field report together, study the travel-time graph, and ask students to point to evidence before they answer. Use the final response for a short geography discussion.

Curriculum

C3 Framework standard covered

GEO.4.4

Explain how geography affects transportation, trade and where people settle.

Preview

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Name Date

Routes to Elmstone Market

Use evidence to see how land and routes shape a market town.

A field report from Elmstone

Read the report. Then answer the questions using details from the report.

Why Elmstone Market Grew

Elmstone Market stands near the middle of a farming area. The town is on a firm rise beside a creek, not down in the creek's low floodplain. The rise gives people a dry place for homes, shops and market stalls. During heavy rain, water can spread across the low ground, so fewer buildings are there.

Two transportation routes meet at Elmstone. A rail line runs from the west woods through town and continues east toward larger cities. A broad road connects the market with the Orchard Plain. Farmers use wagons on this road to bring grain, apples and eggs. The road is fairly level, so wagons can travel it without climbing a steep slope.

The west woods are separated from town by a line of steep hills. A narrow road with several switchbacks crosses those hills. It is a slow trip for a wagon, especially when carrying heavy timber. The rail line makes it easier to send large loads from the woods to Elmstone and then to other towns.

Elmstone's location helps people trade. Farmers bring food to sell, and woodcutters send lumber to town. Shopkeepers and families buy these goods. Because the market has useful routes and a safer building site, more people chose to settle nearby. The town grew where the land and transportation routes made daily work easier, rather than spreading evenly across every part of the area.

1.
Which detail best explains why Elmstone became a settlement?
  • A. The creek made the low floodplain the easiest place to build.
  • B. The firm rise offered a dry building place near useful routes.
  • C. The steep hills gave homes a shorter path to the market.
  • D. The low floodplain had the most room for shops and homes.
2.
Circle the two details from the report that show how geography affects transportation.

The road to Orchard Plain is fairly level for wagons.Families buy food and lumber at the market.The market has stalls and shops.Steep hills make the timber trip slow for wagons.

3.
Why is the rail line especially useful to people in the west woods?
  • A. It lets them avoid selling lumber to other towns.
  • B. It gives them a level road for their wagon trips.
  • C. It places their homes beside the market stalls.
  • D. It can carry heavy loads across the hills more easily.
4.
Mara has a large load of pumpkins from the Orchard Plain. Which plan best fits the geography in the report?
  • A. Use the broad road to take the pumpkins by wagon.
  • B. Carry the pumpkins on foot over the steep hills.
  • C. Wait for floodwater to make a new path to town.
  • D. Take a wagon through the west woods before reaching town.
5.
Use two details from the report to explain why Elmstone grew near the firm rise instead of in the creek's low floodplain.

Travel times to the market

Study the bar graph. The bars show the usual travel time to Elmstone Market from four starting places. Then answer the questions.

Usual Travel Time to Elmstone Market01234Orchard PlainCreek FarmsWest WoodsEast HillsStarting placeHours
6.
Word bank: 1 · 2 · 3 · 4

The usual trip from the West Woods takes   hours.

7.
Which starting place should allow the most travel time for a delivery to Elmstone Market?
  • A. Orchard Plain, because its route is the shortest
  • B. West Woods, because the trip takes the longest
  • C. Creek Farms, because it is beside the market
  • D. East Hills, because its trip is the same as West Woods
8.
Circle the two statements supported by the graph.

The East Hills trip takes two hours longer than the Orchard Plain trip.The Creek Farms trip is the longest trip shown.The West Woods trip takes twice as long as the Creek Farms trip.The Orchard Plain trip and the East Hills trip take the same time.

9.
How much longer is the usual trip from the West Woods than the usual trip from the Orchard Plain?
  • A. 1 hour
  • B. 2 hours
  • C. 3 hours
  • D. 4 hours

Make a geography-based choice

Use the report and the graph to think about new situations around Elmstone.

10.
A company wants to build a storage shed for heavy lumber. Which location would make moving the lumber easiest?
  • A. In the creek's low floodplain, far from the rail line
  • B. On the steep hills, away from the market and road
  • C. On a muddy bank where wagons can stop after rain
  • D. Near the rail line on the firm rise by Elmstone
11.
A farmer from East Hills wants to sell fresh vegetables before they wilt. Which idea best responds to the information on the page?
  • A. Leave early and choose the quickest safe route to market.
  • B. Add more switchbacks so the trip takes longer.
  • C. Build the farm in the floodplain without changing the route.
  • D. Send vegetables through the west woods before going to town.
12.
Sort each feature by how it affects movement around Elmstone.
The rail line through townThe steep hills west of townThe level road to Orchard PlainThe narrow switchbacks
Helps people move goodsMakes movement harder
13.
If several days of heavy rain cover the low floodplain, what is the most likely effect on Elmstone?
  • A. More homes would be built on the flooded ground.
  • B. Wagons on the hill road would travel faster.
  • C. Travel on the low ground near the creek could slow down.
  • D. Shops on the firm rise would move into the floodplain.
14.
Make a claim about how geography affects trade at Elmstone Market. Use one detail from the report and one detail from the graph as evidence.

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