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The California Gold Rush is a free printable Grade 3 to Grade 5 social studies worksheet on how gold changed where people lived, aligned to C3 Framework indicator D2.Geo.6.3-5. 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.

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Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.

The California Gold Rush

D2.Geo.6.3-5

NameDate

Choose the best answer.

1.Where did the gold seekers come from?
  • A.From across the United States and from countries such as Mexico, Chile and China
  • B.Only from Spain
  • C.Only from California
2.Why are the gold seekers called "forty-niners"?
  • A.Most of them arrived in 1849
  • B.They were all 49 years old
  • C.There were only 49 of them
3.How did San Francisco change after gold was found?
  • A.It grew from a small town to a city of tens of thousands
  • B.Everyone left it
  • C.It stayed the same size
4.What happened to California's Native peoples during the Gold Rush?
  • A.Nothing changed for them
  • B.They became the richest people in the state
  • C.Many thousands died from violence, disease and the loss of their land
5.Where was gold found in California in January 1848?
  • A.At Plymouth Rock
  • B.At the Alamo
  • C.At Sutter's Mill, on the American River
6.Why did California's population grow so quickly after 1848?
  • A.Spain gave the land away
  • B.A railroad had just been built
  • C.Gold drew people hoping to get rich
7.How did most forty-niners from the East travel to California?
  • A.By train across the country
  • B.By airplane
  • C.By wagon across the country, or by ship around South America or across Panama
8.Many people grew rich in the Gold Rush without finding gold. How?
  • A.By selling food, tools and clothing to miners
  • B.By staying at home in Europe
  • C.By printing their own money

LessonPrint · D2.Geo.6.3-5 · Set 10 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — The California Gold Rush

Set 10. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.From across the United States and from countries such as Mexico, Chile and China
  2. 2.Most of them arrived in 1849
  3. 3.It grew from a small town to a city of tens of thousands
  4. 4.Many thousands died from violence, disease and the loss of their land
  5. 5.At Sutter's Mill, on the American River
  6. 6.Gold drew people hoping to get rich
  7. 7.By wagon across the country, or by ship around South America or across Panama
  8. 8.By selling food, tools and clothing to miners

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to D2.Geo.6.3-5 of the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.