Indiana Social Studies 3.G.7

Social Studies3rd GradeGeography

The Standard

Describe the difference in how Native Americans and early settlers of Indiana adapted to and modified their environment to meet their needs.

2026 Indiana Academic Standards: K-12 Social Studies

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students compare how Native American communities and early settlers in Indiana used rivers, forests, and farmland to meet their needs. They explain when people used what was already there and when they changed the land.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student can explain that both groups used rivers for travel. They can describe how Native communities cleared fields for corn and how settlers often cleared larger plots for farms and roads.
Common Misconceptions: Students may think Native Americans left the land untouched or that settlers did not rely on rivers and forests. They may call traveling on a river a change to the land.
How to Assess It: Exit ticket: Name one way a Native American community used or changed Indiana's environment and one way early settlers did. What need did each action meet?

Lesson moves

Give pairs an Indiana river map and paper trees; have them mark river routes, cornfields, settler farms, and roads.
Ask students to write two sentences comparing how a Native community and a settler family used a river and cleared land for food.
Play a sorting game with cards saying 'river travel,' 'cornfield clearing,' and 'road building'; students sort them by using or changing the land.
Find a local river and road on a map; ask which one people could travel on without changing the land.

Free download

A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to 3.G.7, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.

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