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Life in North America Before 1492 is a free printable Grade 3 to Grade 5 social studies worksheet on how nations lived and traded before Europeans arrived, aligned to C3 Framework indicator D2.Geo.4.3-5. It prints 8 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 10 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.

Life in North America Before 1492

D2.Geo.4.3-5

NameDate

Choose the best answer.

1.About how many people may have lived in Cahokia at its largest?
  • A.Perhaps 10,000 to 20,000
  • B.About 10 million
  • C.About 50
2.How did the Hohokam farm the desert of what is now Arizona?
  • A.They waited for snow
  • B.They planted rice in swamps
  • C.They dug long canals to bring river water to their fields
3.What did the people of Cahokia build out of earth?
  • A.Stone castles with moats
  • B.Brick towers
  • C.Huge mounds, including Monks Mound
4.Cahokia, near today's St. Louis, was a large city around the year 1100. Who built it?
  • A.Spanish settlers
  • B.French fur traders
  • C.Mississippian people
5.Which is true of the peoples of North America before 1492?
  • A.They all spoke one language
  • B.There were hundreds of nations with different languages and ways of life
  • C.No one lived in North America
6.Before Europeans brought horses, how did Plains peoples hunt bison?
  • A.From trains
  • B.On horseback with rifles
  • C.On foot, sometimes driving herds over cliffs
7.Before horses came, what did dogs pull for Plains peoples?
  • A.Wagons on iron rails
  • B.Loads on wooden frames called travois
  • C.Mail carts
8.How did peoples of the Pacific Northwest use their forests and rivers?
  • A.They built adobe pueblos
  • B.They herded cattle and horses
  • C.They built cedar plank houses and fished for salmon

LessonPrint · D2.Geo.4.3-5 · Set 10 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Life in North America Before 1492

Set 10. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.Perhaps 10,000 to 20,000
  2. 2.They dug long canals to bring river water to their fields
  3. 3.Huge mounds, including Monks Mound
  4. 4.Mississippian people
  5. 5.There were hundreds of nations with different languages and ways of life
  6. 6.On foot, sometimes driving herds over cliffs
  7. 7.Loads on wooden frames called travois
  8. 8.They built cedar plank houses and fished for salmon

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to D2.Geo.4.3-5 of the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.