Settling the West: Guided Reading: Lesson 2 Farming the Plains

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Settling the West: Guided Reading: Lesson 2 Farming the Plains

Guided Reading Activity

Settling the West, 1865–1890

Lesson 2: Farming the Plains

Review Questions: Identifying Supporting Details
DIRECTIONS: Read each main idea. Use your textbook to supply the details that support or explain each main idea. When there are multiple blank lines, fill in the first line then the second with the answers separated by a comma and a space.
(Example: Great Plains, construction)

A. Main Idea: During the late 1800s, construction of the railroads encouraged settlement of the Great Plains.


1. Detail: The Great Plains were once called The Great American Desert because of the scarcity of ________ and ________ .

2. Detail: The population of the Great Plains grew steadily after __________________ .

3. Detail: One important factor that spurred population was the construction of the ___________________ .

4. Detail: In the year ________ , settlement increased because of the passage of ___________________________ .

5. Detail: The law entitled settlers to _______ acres and title to the land after living there _______ years.

B. Main Idea: New farming techniques and new inventions helped to make the Great Plains the Wheat Belt of the United States.


6. Detail: One new farming method of planting seeds deep in the ground was called __________________; farmers planted seeds deep in the soil where there was enough ________ for growth.

7. Detail: Two inventions that made harvesting large wheat crops easier were the _____________ and ___________.

8. Detail: The Wheat Belt included parts of the Dakotas and the states of __________ and __________.

9. Detail: In the 1880s a severe __________ destroyed much of the wheat crop and turned the soil to ___________.

10. Detail: However, by the 1890s wheat prices dropped because of _______________.

11. Detail: In 1889, an event called the ________________________ opened one of the last large territories for settlement.

Summary and Reflection
DIRECTIONS: Summarize the main ideas of this lesson by answering the question below.


12. What were the factors that contributed to the development of the Great Plains as a major agricultural region?





Answer Key

1. wood, water

2. the Civil War

3. railroads

4. 1862, the Homestead Act

5. 160, 5

6. dry farming, moisture

7. seed drill, threshing machine

8. Nebraska, Kansas

9. drought, dust

10. overproduction

11. Oklahoma Land Rush

12. Students’ answers will vary but they should mention some of the following factors: the free land provided to people willing to work the land; the decade of unusually frequent rain; the global demand for wheat; the Great Plains’ suitability for bonanza wheat farming; and the new farming technologies developed in the Great Plains.

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