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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 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.

Life in North America Before 1492

D2.Geo.4.3-5

NameDate

Choose the best answer.

1.Which crop, first grown by people in Mexico, spread across much of North America?
  • A.Rice
  • B.Wheat
  • C.Corn, also called maize
2.How did the Hohokam farm the desert of what is now Arizona?
  • A.They dug long canals to bring river water to their fields
  • B.They waited for snow
  • C.They planted rice in swamps
3.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
4.Before Europeans brought horses, how did Plains peoples hunt bison?
  • A.From trains
  • B.On foot, sometimes driving herds over cliffs
  • C.On horseback with rifles
5.What did the people of Cahokia build out of earth?
  • A.Huge mounds, including Monks Mound
  • B.Stone castles with moats
  • C.Brick towers
6.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
7.How did Ancestral Puebloans adapt to the dry Southwest?
  • A.They built homes in cliffs and stored water and crops
  • B.They built igloos
  • C.They fished for salmon in the ocean
8.Why did many Southwest peoples hold ceremonies for rain?
  • A.Rain was scarce and their crops depended on it
  • B.Rain fell every day there
  • C.They wanted floods

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

Answer key — Life in North America Before 1492

Set 5. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.Corn, also called maize
  2. 2.They dug long canals to bring river water to their fields
  3. 3.There were hundreds of nations with different languages and ways of life
  4. 4.On foot, sometimes driving herds over cliffs
  5. 5.Huge mounds, including Monks Mound
  6. 6.Each used the materials and climate of its own land
  7. 7.They built homes in cliffs and stored water and crops
  8. 8.Rain was scarce and their crops depended on it

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