The First Americans
Land/Environment
Native American Culture
Miscellaneous
Miscellaneous, Continued
100
How did the first people come to North America?
By walking across a land bridge between Asian and North America.
100
What allowed people to stay in one place? Please provide the name and description.
They began to practice agriculture, which is the planting and raising of crops.
100
True or False? Many Native American groups believed that animals and the earth had spirits.
True
100
What is a system for making rules and decisions to help guide a group?
Government
100
What is culture?
A set of beliefs and way of life that are special to a certain group; it includes their rules, language, art
200
What was the walking bridge called that the first people crossed to come to North America?
The Bering Strait
200
The Powhatans lived near rivers. To travel by water, they learned to build canoes. What is the term for changing in order to survive the conditions you face?
Adapting.
200
In Native American culture, what were ancestors?
The spirits of their family members who had lived in the past.
200
What is a system by which a group makes, shares, and uses goods?
Economy
200
Which Native American group is known for building the massive earthen structures and what were they believed to be used for?
The Mound Builders built the structures, which were used for graves and religious ceremonies.
300
What were hunter-gatherers?
People who hunted animals and collected/gathered wild plants for food.
300
What is irrigation?
Digging canals to capture rain water and direct it to crops.
300
In Native American culture, what were shamans?
People who were considered to have special knowledge and skills, such as the ability to heal the sick.
300
These groups made decisions and its members were usually the society's leaders.
Native American councils
300
The large city of Tenochtitlan was built by which Native American group? These people also controlled much of what is present-day Mexico.
The Aztecs.
400
What is a nomad?
A person who travels from place to place in order to survive.
400
The Pueblo dug canals to capture rain water to bring to their crops. This is an example of what?
Native Americans changing their environment to improve their lives.
400
What caused individual Native American cultures to be diverse?
Geographic regions affected the development of individual Native American cultures.
400
Which Native American group built cliff dwellings in the Southwest?
The Puebloans.
400
In what direction did early Americans travel after arriving in North America?
South, into Central and South America.
500
If a strait is a waterway, how could the first people who came to North America from Asia have walked across the Bering Strait?
At the time, much of the water on Earth was frozen. The big sheets of ice on land took up most of the water, which made the seas shallower. The missing water exposed the land bridge that people were able to walk across.
500
What is an example of Native Americans changing their environment to improve their lives?
- The Pueblo dug irrigation canals to capture rain water and bring it to crops. - Native Americans set fire to, and burned, forests in order to improve hunting and get rid of pests.
500
What large animal once roamed the plains by the millions and was hunted by Native Americans?
Bison.
500
In the Southwest, what Native American group built cliff dwellings and what were the cliffs used cliffs for?
The Puebloans built the dwellings under the cliffs. They used the cliffs for shelter.
500
Why did early Americans spread from the far North of North America into Central and South America?
The early Americans did not farm or grow their own food. So, they had to find new food sources. They followed wild herds of animals throughout North America and into Central and South America. As they did, they formed settlements.