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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 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.

Life in North America Before 1492

D2.Geo.4.3-5

NameDate

Choose the best answer.

1.Before horses came, what did dogs pull for Plains peoples?
  • A.Loads on wooden frames called travois
  • B.Wagons on iron rails
  • C.Mail carts
2.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
3.Why did many nations in the East grow corn, beans and squash together?
  • A.They needed no water or sun
  • B.They were the only plants allowed by law
  • C.The plants help each other grow, and together they make a healthy diet
4.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
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.Why did nations in different regions live in such different homes?
  • A.They all lived in the same kind of home
  • B.One ruler told them all what to build
  • C.Each used the materials and climate of its own land
7.How did the Hohokam farm the desert of what is now Arizona?
  • A.They planted rice in swamps
  • B.They dug long canals to bring river water to their fields
  • C.They waited for snow
8.How did Ancestral Puebloans adapt to the dry Southwest?
  • A.They fished for salmon in the ocean
  • B.They built igloos
  • C.They built homes in cliffs and stored water and crops

LessonPrint · D2.Geo.4.3-5 · Set 12 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Life in North America Before 1492

Set 12. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.Loads on wooden frames called travois
  2. 2.On foot, sometimes driving herds over cliffs
  3. 3.The plants help each other grow, and together they make a healthy diet
  4. 4.Perhaps 10,000 to 20,000
  5. 5.There were hundreds of nations with different languages and ways of life
  6. 6.Each used the materials and climate of its own land
  7. 7.They dug long canals to bring river water to their fields
  8. 8.They built homes in cliffs and stored water and crops

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