Skip to content
LessonPrint

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 7 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

Next set

One paper per student

12345678910111213141516171819202122232425

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.
  • Obsidian, a black volcanic glass
  • Conch and whelk shells
  • Copper
  • Dentalium shells
  • A.The Lake Superior region
  • B.The Yellowstone area of the Rocky Mountains
  • C.The Pacific coast near Vancouver Island
  • D.The southern coasts near Florida
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.Why did the Mississippi River and its branches help trade?
  • A.Roads ran under the river
  • B.The river was frozen all year
  • C.Canoes could carry goods long distances on the water
4.At trading gatherings on the Columbia River, what was one important good?
  • A.Dried salmon
  • B.Gold coins
  • C.Cotton cloth from England
5.Why did farming peoples and hunting peoples trade with each other?
  • A.Farmers had corn to spare and hunters had meat and hides
  • B.Neither had anything to trade
  • C.Both had exactly the same goods
6.Before horses arrived, how did most trade goods travel?
  • A.By steamship
  • B.On foot and by canoe along rivers
  • C.By truck
7.What did many coastal peoples specialize in making to trade?
  • A.Iron tools
  • B.Glass windows
  • C.Shell beads

LessonPrint · D2.Eco.4.3-5 · Set 7 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Trading Across a Continent

Set 7. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. Obsidian, a black volcanic glass — B (The Yellowstone area of the Rocky Mountains) 2. Conch and whelk shells — D (The southern coasts near Florida) 3. Copper — A (The Lake Superior region) 4. Dentalium shells — C (The Pacific coast near Vancouver Island)
  2. 2.To make what you are best placed to make and trade for the rest
  3. 3.Canoes could carry goods long distances on the water
  4. 4.Dried salmon
  5. 5.Farmers had corn to spare and hunters had meat and hides
  6. 6.On foot and by canoe along rivers
  7. 7.Shell beads

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