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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 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.

Life in North America Before 1492

D2.Geo.4.3-5

NameDate

Choose the best answer.

1.Why did nations in different regions live in such different homes?
  • A.Each used the materials and climate of its own land
  • B.One ruler told them all what to build
  • C.They all lived in the same kind of home
2.How did Ancestral Puebloans adapt to the dry Southwest?
  • A.They built homes in cliffs and stored water and crops
  • B.They fished for salmon in the ocean
  • C.They built igloos
3.Before horses came, what did dogs pull for Plains peoples?
  • A.Wagons on iron rails
  • B.Mail carts
  • C.Loads on wooden frames called travois
4.Why did many nations in the East grow corn, beans and squash together?
  • A.The plants help each other grow, and together they make a healthy diet
  • B.They were the only plants allowed by law
  • C.They needed no water or sun
5.Which crop, first grown by people in Mexico, spread across much of North America?
  • A.Wheat
  • B.Corn, also called maize
  • C.Rice
6.Before Europeans brought horses, how did Plains peoples hunt bison?
  • A.On foot, sometimes driving herds over cliffs
  • B.On horseback with rifles
  • C.From trains
7.Cahokia, near today's St. Louis, was a large city around the year 1100. Who built it?
  • A.French fur traders
  • B.Spanish settlers
  • C.Mississippian people
8.About how many people may have lived in Cahokia at its largest?
  • A.About 50
  • B.About 10 million
  • C.Perhaps 10,000 to 20,000

LessonPrint · D2.Geo.4.3-5 · Set 11 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Life in North America Before 1492

Set 11. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.Each used the materials and climate of its own land
  2. 2.They built homes in cliffs and stored water and crops
  3. 3.Loads on wooden frames called travois
  4. 4.The plants help each other grow, and together they make a healthy diet
  5. 5.Corn, also called maize
  6. 6.On foot, sometimes driving herds over cliffs
  7. 7.Mississippian people
  8. 8.Perhaps 10,000 to 20,000

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