Sorting and Classifying — Answer Key
Part A: Multiple Choice
Circle the best answer for each question.
1. Liam sorts blocks by color. Then he sorts each color by size. How many sorting steps did he do?
A) Two steps
B) One step
C) Three steps
D) Zero steps
Sorting by color is one step and sorting each pile by size is a second step, so he did two.
2. Toys: car, train, doll, ball. Liam sorts by 'rolls.' Which is in the NO group?
A) car
B) doll
C) train
D) ball
Dolls do not roll because they have no wheels, so they belong in the NO-roll group on the sort.
3. After sorting toys that roll, Mia adds a color rule. What happens?
A) Rolling toys un-sort
B) All toys leave the bin
C) Each rolling color forms its own smaller group
D) Nothing changes
Adding color splits the rolling group into smaller color piles, so each color forms its own group.
4. Sam sorts dolls by hair color. Then he adds a 'has shoes' rule. What does this make?
A) One big doll group
B) Two color groups only
C) No groups at all
D) Smaller groups by hair AND shoes
Adding a shoe rule splits each hair-color group into shoe and no-shoe sets, creating smaller groups.
Part B: Fill in the Blank
Write the correct answer on each line.
1. First by shape, then by color, then size means three steps.
Three rules used one after another make three sorting steps, careful and detailed in order.
2. A toy car rolls because it has wheels.
Wheels turn and let the car roll, so they are why cars belong in the rolling sort group.
3. Adding a new rule makes more groups than before.
Each new rule splits existing groups into smaller subgroups, so the total number of groups grows.
4. If a rule is yes or no, sorting makes two groups.
Yes-or-no rules always split items into exactly two groups: matches and non-matches.
5. Sorting toys by rolling and color uses two rules.
Two attributes give two rules, so combining rolling and color creates a two-rule sorting set.