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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 19 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 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
3.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 needed no water or sun
  • C.They were the only plants allowed by law
4.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
5.Which crop, first grown by people in Mexico, spread across much of North America?
  • A.Wheat
  • B.Rice
  • C.Corn, also called maize
6.Which is true of the peoples of North America before 1492?
  • A.They all spoke one language
  • B.No one lived in North America
  • C.There were hundreds of nations with different languages and ways of life
7.Before horses came, what did dogs pull for Plains peoples?
  • A.Mail carts
  • B.Loads on wooden frames called travois
  • C.Wagons on iron rails
8.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

LessonPrint · D2.Geo.4.3-5 · Set 19 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Life in North America Before 1492

Set 19. Prints on its own sheet.

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

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