Scoring Guide: Early Communities & U.S. Regions

Read each question. Use the source box for items 3–5.

1. 1.

   Which is a reason SETTLERS came, not explorers?

   (2 pts)

   Answer: to farm land and start a new life

2. 2.

   Why is it wrong to say that everyone who came to North America in the 1600s chose to come?

   (2 pts)

   Answer: Many Africans were captured and forced to come in chains as enslaved people, starting in Virginia in 1619. They did not choose to come.

3. 3.

   Source box (read both accounts first). Account 1, a settler's diary, written for this test: "Today our neighbors from the village by the bay brought us corn and beans and showed us where to dig for clams. We gave them two wool blankets. Without their help we would be hungry this winter." Account 2, a Native elder's story, written for this test: "The newcomers cut down the trees where we hunt deer. We traded with them, and their blankets are warm. But each spring more of them come, and their pigs dig up our corn fields." Which detail shows the two groups helping each other?

   (2 pts)

   Answer: They traded corn and beans for wool blankets.

4. 4.

   Find one cause of conflict in Account 2.

   (2 pts)

   Answer: Answers vary. Look for: newcomers cut down the trees where the nation hunts deer; more newcomers come each spring; their pigs dig up the corn fields.

5. 5.

   Why do the two writers feel differently about the same newcomers? Use one detail from each account.

   (3 pts)

   Answer: Answers vary. Look for: the settler is grateful because the neighbors gave food and help; the elder is worried because the newcomers are cutting down the hunting forest and their pigs dig up the corn fields.

6. 6.

   Which sentence about the Trail of Tears is true?

   (2 pts)

   Answer: The U.S. government forced the Cherokee and other Southeast nations to move west of the Mississippi River.

Read the source box. Then answer each question.

1. 7.

   Source box: Fox Ridge, Then and Now (a made-up town, written for this test). Long before 1776, a Native nation fished and farmed along the Fox River, and its people still live in the region today. In 1880, a railroad was built across the river, and the town of Fox Ridge was founded where the tracks crossed the river. Farmers brought wheat to the train. In 1880, Fox Ridge had one store and a small train station. Today Fox Ridge has a hospital, three schools and a bike trail along the river. The old train station is now the town library. Give two reasons the spot where the railroad crossed the river was a smart place for farmers to bring their wheat.

   (2 pts)

   Answer: Answers vary. Look for: the train could carry the wheat to cities to sell; the river gave water (or boats, or power for a mill).

2. 8.

   Fill in: In 1880, the library building was a ____. Today it is the ____. Name one thing in the story that is still there.

   (2 pts)

   Answer: a train station; town library; the river (also accept the building itself).

3. 9.

   Put these in order from first to last: Fox Ridge is founded (1880); a Native nation fishes and farms along the Fox River (long before 1776); the United States declares independence (1776); the old station becomes the library (today).

   (2 pts)

   Answer: A Native nation fishes and farms along the Fox River (long before 1776); the United States declares independence (1776); Fox Ridge is founded (1880); the old station becomes the library (today).

4. 10.

   Which sentence from a town website is an OPINION?

   (2 pts)

   Answer: Fox Ridge has the prettiest river in the whole state.

5. 11.

   Your big question is "How did Fox Ridge begin?" Write one supporting question that would help answer it. Then name one source that could answer your supporting question and tell why it is a good source.

   (2 pts)

   Answer: Answers vary. Look for: a supporting question that helps answer the big question, such as "Why was Fox Ridge built where the tracks crossed the river?" or "Who lived along the Fox River first?", and a source that fits it, such as the historical society, old newspapers or town records, with a reason such as "they keep records from that time."

Read the map box. Picture the trip on a U.S. map, then answer each question.

1. 12.

   Map box: A trip across the United States (picture a U.S. map with north at the top). Ana's family starts in Boston, on the Atlantic coast. They drive west to Chicago, beside Lake Michigan. Next they cross the Mississippi River and drive across the flat Great Plains to Denver, at the edge of the Rocky Mountains. Then they cross the tall Rockies and drive south and west to Phoenix, in the desert. In which U.S. region does the trip begin?

   (1 pt)

   Answer: the Northeast

2. 13.

   Which Great Lake does the family see in Chicago? Is its water salty or fresh?

   (2 pts)

   Answer: Lake Michigan; fresh

3. 14.

   Name the region for each city: Chicago ____, Denver ____, Phoenix ____.

   (3 pts)

   Answer: Chicago: Midwest; Denver: West; Phoenix: Southwest

4. 15.

   Which mountains does the family cross? Why might driving over them be slower in January than in July?

   (2 pts)

   Answer: The Rocky Mountains. Look for: high mountain roads get snow and ice in winter, so cars must go slowly or roads may close.

5. 16.

   Which of these does the family NOT pass on this trip?

   (2 pts)

   Answer: the Everglades

6. 17.

   Phoenix is hot and dry. Chicago has cold, snowy winters. Pick one city and tell one way people there adapt to its climate.

   (2 pts)

   Answer: Answers vary. Look for: Phoenix, such as air conditioning, shade, light clothes or desert plants; Chicago, such as snowplows, heavy coats, warm homes or salt on roads.

Read the chart in the source box. Then answer each question.

1. 18.

   Source box: a chart written for this test. Each nation still lives in its homeland region today. Northwest Coast | Haida | cedar plank house | giant cedar trees and salmon. Southwest | Hopi | stone and adobe pueblo | stone, clay and corn. Great Plains | Lakota | tipi | bison. Eastern Woodlands | Haudenosaunee | longhouse | wood, bark and corn. (The columns are: Region | Nation | Home long ago | Main resource.) Which nation's homes came from a region with giant trees?

   (1 pt)

   Answer: the Haida

2. 19.

   Which home in the chart could be moved most easily? Use the Main resource column to explain why that mattered to the nation that used it.

   (2 pts)

   Answer: the tipi; Lakota families followed the bison herds, so they needed homes they could move quickly.

3. 20.

   Choose one nation from the chart. Tell one true thing about that nation today, using the present tense.

   (2 pts)

   Answer: Answers vary. Look for: a true present-tense sentence, such as "The Hopi live in Arizona today" or "The Lakota have their own governments."

4. 21.

   Claim question: Did the land and climate shape the homes Native nations built long ago? Write a claim. Use two rows of the chart as evidence.

   (4 pts)

   Answer: Answers vary. Look for: a claim such as "Yes, the land shaped their homes," plus two rows, such as the Haida built plank houses from giant cedar trees, the Hopi built with stone and clay in the dry Southwest, the Lakota used bison hides on the Plains, or the Haudenosaunee used wood and bark from the forest.