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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 24 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.
  • US soldiers kill hundreds of Lakota at Wounded Knee (1890)
  • The US Army forces most Plains nations onto reservations (late 1870s)
  • The Dawes Act splits reservation land into family plots (1887)
  • The Lakota and their allies defeat US soldiers at the Little Bighorn (1876)
2.Why did the bison almost disappear from the Plains?
  • A.One long winter froze them all
  • B.The bison all moved to Europe
  • C.Hunters killed millions of them for their hides and for sport
3.Why was the loss of the bison so harmful to Plains nations?
  • A.Bison were only used for racing
  • B.They had never hunted bison
  • C.They depended on bison for food, clothing and shelter
4.Why did many settlers on the Plains build houses from sod?
  • A.Sod was the law
  • B.There were few trees on the prairie for lumber
  • C.Wood was too light
5.How did the railroad change the Plains?
  • A.It ran only from north to south
  • B.It made the Plains empty of people
  • C.It brought settlers and carried crops and cattle to markets
6.How did barbed wire change the Plains?
  • A.It carried messages across the Plains
  • B.It made the bison herds grow
  • C.It let farmers fence land cheaply and closed the open range

LessonPrint · D2.Geo.5.3-5 · Set 24 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Changes on the Great Plains

Set 24. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.Correct order: 4, 2, 3, 1
  2. 2.Hunters killed millions of them for their hides and for sport
  3. 3.They depended on bison for food, clothing and shelter
  4. 4.There were few trees on the prairie for lumber
  5. 5.It brought settlers and carried crops and cattle to markets
  6. 6.It let farmers fence land cheaply and closed the open range

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