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Trading Across a Continent is a free printable Grade 3 to Grade 5 social studies worksheet on trade networks among Native nations before 1492, aligned to C3 Framework indicator D2.Eco.4.3-5. It prints 7 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.

Trading Across a Continent

D2.Eco.4.3-5

NameDate

Draw a line from each trade good to where it came from. Then choose the best answers.

1.Draw a line from each one to its match.
  • Conch and whelk shells
  • Obsidian, a black volcanic glass
  • Macaw feathers
  • Mica, a shiny mineral that splits into sheets
  • A.Birds traded north from Mexico to the Southwest
  • B.The southern Appalachian Mountains
  • C.The southern coasts near Florida
  • D.The Yellowstone area of the Rocky Mountains
2.What does it mean to specialize?
  • A.To make what you are best placed to make and trade for the rest
  • B.To stop trading
  • C.To make everything yourself
3.At trading gatherings on the Columbia River, what was one important good?
  • A.Dried salmon
  • B.Gold coins
  • C.Cotton cloth from England
4.Why did farming peoples and hunting peoples trade with each other?
  • A.Neither had anything to trade
  • B.Farmers had corn to spare and hunters had meat and hides
  • C.Both had exactly the same goods
5.Before horses arrived, how did most trade goods travel?
  • A.By truck
  • B.By steamship
  • C.On foot and by canoe along rivers
6.Why was obsidian valuable far from where it was found?
  • A.It was soft enough to eat
  • B.It glowed in the dark
  • C.It was rare there and made very sharp tools
7.What was Plains Indian Sign Language used for?
  • A.Sending messages by telegraph
  • B.Writing laws on paper
  • C.Talking with people of other nations who spoke different languages

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

Answer key — Trading Across a Continent

Set 12. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. Conch and whelk shells — C (The southern coasts near Florida) 2. Obsidian, a black volcanic glass — D (The Yellowstone area of the Rocky Mountains) 3. Macaw feathers — A (Birds traded north from Mexico to the Southwest) 4. Mica, a shiny mineral that splits into sheets — B (The southern Appalachian Mountains)
  2. 2.To make what you are best placed to make and trade for the rest
  3. 3.Dried salmon
  4. 4.Farmers had corn to spare and hunters had meat and hides
  5. 5.On foot and by canoe along rivers
  6. 6.It was rare there and made very sharp tools
  7. 7.Talking with people of other nations who spoke different languages

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