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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 12 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.
  • The Dawes Act splits reservation land into family plots (1887)
  • US soldiers kill hundreds of Lakota at Wounded Knee (1890)
  • The Lakota and their allies defeat US soldiers at the Little Bighorn (1876)
  • The US Army forces most Plains nations onto reservations (late 1870s)
2.How did windmills help Plains farmers?
  • A.They kept the wind away
  • B.They ground bison bones into flour
  • C.They pumped water up from deep underground
3.How did barbed wire change the Plains?
  • A.It made the bison herds grow
  • B.It carried messages across the Plains
  • C.It let farmers fence land cheaply and closed the open range
4.Why was the loss of the bison so harmful to Plains nations?
  • A.They had never hunted bison
  • B.Bison were only used for racing
  • C.They depended on bison for food, clothing and shelter
5.Which nations lived on the Great Plains?
  • A.The Lakota, Cheyenne, Comanche and Pawnee, among others
  • B.The Haida and Tlingit
  • C.The Hopi and Zuni
6.What new kind of plow helped farmers break the thick prairie sod?
  • A.A paddle wheel
  • B.A wooden spoon
  • C.A steel plow

LessonPrint · D2.Geo.5.3-5 · Set 12 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Changes on the Great Plains

Set 12. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.Correct order: 3, 4, 1, 2
  2. 2.They pumped water up from deep underground
  3. 3.It let farmers fence land cheaply and closed the open range
  4. 4.They depended on bison for food, clothing and shelter
  5. 5.The Lakota, Cheyenne, Comanche and Pawnee, among others
  6. 6.A steel plow

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