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Changes on the Great Plains is a free printable Grade 3 to Grade 5 social studies worksheet on how the Plains changed for the nations who lived there, aligned to C3 Framework indicator D2.Geo.5.3-5. It prints 6 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two students in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

Set 11 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.

Changes on the Great Plains

D2.Geo.5.3-5

NameDate

Number the events in order. Then choose the best answers.

1.Number these events from earliest to latest.
  • Joseph Glidden patents barbed wire (1874)
  • The first railroad across the country is finished (1869)
  • Spanish horses spread to Plains nations (1600s and 1700s)
  • The Homestead Act offers Plains land to settlers (1862)
2.What did the US government force many Plains nations to do?
  • A.Move to Europe
  • B.Become railroad owners
  • C.Move onto reservations
3.How did barbed wire change the Plains?
  • A.It let farmers fence land cheaply and closed the open range
  • B.It made the bison herds grow
  • C.It carried messages across the Plains
4.Which nations lived on the Great Plains?
  • A.The Haida and Tlingit
  • B.The Lakota, Cheyenne, Comanche and Pawnee, among others
  • C.The Hopi and Zuni
5.Which is true of Plains nations today?
  • A.They all live in Europe
  • B.None of them still exist
  • C.Many, such as the Lakota and Cheyenne, keep their governments and traditions
6.How did the railroad change the Plains?
  • A.It made the Plains empty of people
  • B.It ran only from north to south
  • C.It brought settlers and carried crops and cattle to markets

LessonPrint · D2.Geo.5.3-5 · Set 11 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Changes on the Great Plains

Set 11. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.Correct order: 3, 4, 2, 1
  2. 2.Move onto reservations
  3. 3.It let farmers fence land cheaply and closed the open range
  4. 4.The Lakota, Cheyenne, Comanche and Pawnee, among others
  5. 5.Many, such as the Lakota and Cheyenne, keep their governments and traditions
  6. 6.It brought settlers and carried crops and cattle to markets

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to D2.Geo.5.3-5 of the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.