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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 5 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 two lines meet at Promontory Summit, Utah (1869)
  • Work on the line begins in California (1863)
  • Chinese workers blast tunnels through the Sierra Nevada (1866)
  • Congress passes the Pacific Railway Act (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 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.What new kind of plow helped farmers break the thick prairie sod?
  • A.A paddle wheel
  • B.A wooden spoon
  • C.A steel plow
5.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
6.How did windmills help Plains farmers?
  • A.They ground bison bones into flour
  • B.They pumped water up from deep underground
  • C.They kept the wind away

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

Answer key — Changes on the Great Plains

Set 5. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.Correct order: 4, 2, 3, 1
  2. 2.Move onto reservations
  3. 3.It let farmers fence land cheaply and closed the open range
  4. 4.A steel plow
  5. 5.It brought settlers and carried crops and cattle to markets
  6. 6.They pumped water up from deep underground

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