Name
Date
Class
★ Guided Reading Activity 1-1
DIRECTIONS: Filling in the Blanks Use your textbook to fill in the blanks using
the words in the box. Use another sheet of paper if necessary.
artifacts
carbon
hunting
maize
weapons and tools
woolly mammoth
South America
Atlantic Ocean
Beringia
cultures
Bering Strait
communities
nomadic
food
shelters
The Journey From Asia
Archaeologists learn about ancient peoples by studying stone tools, carvings, and
other (1)
. Archaeologists believe that the first Americans came from Asia over
a strip of land called (2)
that once connected Asia and North America. This land
. The early Americans were nomads who depended on (4)
for most
of their food. Over the centuries, migrants spread out as far east as the (5)
and as far south as the tip of (6)
. The first Americans found huge mammals,
including the saber-toothed tiger, mastodon, and (7)
bones of the animal to make (8)
. The people used the
. When the large animals began to die out, the
early Americans had to find other sources of (9)
.
Copyright © by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Settling Down
About 9,000 years ago, people living in present-day Mexico learned to plant and
raise a form of corn called (10)
. As they began to produce their own supply
of food, early Americans in Mexico gave up their (11)
stable (12)
way of life and formed
. Scientists learn much about early villages by studying the age of
artifacts, which can be done by measuring the amount of radioactive (13)
remaining in things that were once alive, such as bones or wood. The people of
ancient Mexico began to build permanent (14)
of people in the Americas developed their own (15)
. Over time, different groups
.
33
SECTION
(3)
1-1
bridge that the first Americans crossed about 30,000 years ago now lies under the
Name
Date
Class
★ Guided Reading Activity 1-2
DIRECTIONS: Recalling the Facts Use the information in your textbook to
answer the questions. Use another sheet of paper if necessary.
1. In what order did the following civilizations arise, beginning with the earliest:
Aztec, Inca, Maya, Olmec?
2. Where did the Olmec live?
3. What did the Mayan pyramids look like?
4. What is a theocracy?
SECTION
5. What did the Mayans use to help them create a calendar?
1-2
6. What was unusual about the Aztec city of Tenochtitlán?
7. What happened to the conquered people of the Aztec warriors?
9. How were the Inca able to farm on the mountainous land?
10. What was Machu Picchu?
34
Copyright © by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
8. What helped the Inca control its large empire?
Name
Date
Class
★ Guided Reading Activity 1-3
DIRECTIONS: Outlining Locate each heading in your textbook. Then use the information under the heading to help you write each answer. Use another sheet of paper if
necessary.
I. Early Native Americans
A. The Hohokam—How did the Hohokam people help provide water for their fields?
II. Other Native North Americans
A. Peoples of the North—How did the Inuit survive the cold Arctic climate?
Copyright © by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Peoples of the West
1. How did the Tlingit, Haida, and Chinook adapt their way of life to the forest
and sea environment of the West Coast? ________________________________
2. Where did the Nez Perce and Yakima settle? ____________________________
3. Why did the Ute and Shoshone travel to find food? ______________________
Peoples of the Southwest—How did the Apache and Navajo get most of
their food? ____________________________________________________________
Peoples of the Plains—What animal became important to the Plains peoples
during hunting and warfare? ____________________________________________
Peoples of the East and Southeast
1. What five Iroquois nations joined to form the Iroquois League? ____________
2. What important activities did Iroquois women do? ______________________
3. What are three of the Native American peoples who lived in present-day
Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi? ____________________________________
4. What happened in the 1500s that changed the Native Americans’ way of life?
35
SECTION
2. What do the artifacts found in the mounds indicate? _____________________
D. Cahokia—Why is Cahokia a special place? _________________________________
1-3
B. The Anasazi
1. What kinds of dwellings did the Anasazi build? _________________________
2. Why do archaeologists think Pueblo Bonito was an important center for the
Anasazi? ____________________________________________________________
C. The Mound Builders
1. What was the purpose of some of the mounds built by the Mound Builders?