GradeMap

Grade 4 · Social Studies · Unit 1 of 6

First Peoples & the Land

Land, trade and leadership

What your child practises

How First Peoples used and cared for the land and its resources, traded and governed themselves before Europeans arrived, and are living communities today. Includes short readings.

BC Curriculum learning standard: First Peoples land ownership and use; First Peoples governance and trade before contact

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Which statement about First Peoples today is true?

    🤝
    • They all live the same way
    • They are living communities with their own governments, languages and cultures
    • They only lived long ago
    • They no longer live in Canada
    Show answer

    They are living communities with their own governments, languages and cultures

    Hint: First Peoples are part of Canada today. Each Nation has its own language, culture and leaders.

  2. Question 2

    Many First Nations on the Plains relied on the bison for…

    🦬
    • trading gold
    • food, clothing and tools
    • building cedar canoes
    • catching salmon
    Show answer

    food, clothing and tools

    Hint: Almost every part of the bison was used: meat for food, hides for clothing and shelter, and bones for tools.

  3. Question 3

    What was obsidian used for?

    Trading Long Ago

    Long before Europeans arrived, First Peoples across North America traded with each other. Trade routes followed rivers, coastlines and mountain passes, and some goods travelled hundreds of kilometres.

    On the Pacific coast, an oil made from a small fish called the eulachon was very valuable. The trails used to carry it inland became known as grease trails.

    Nations traded what they had for what they needed, such as shells, dried fish, furs and obsidian, a sharp black stone used for making tools.

    • Making oil
    • Drying fish
    • Building canoes
    • Making sharp tools
    Show answer

    Making sharp tools

    Hint: The passage calls obsidian a sharp black stone. What would a sharp stone be good for?

  4. Question 4

    The land a First Nation has lived on and cared for since long ago is called its…

    🏞️
    • capital city
    • colony
    • province
    • traditional territory
    Show answer

    traditional territory

    Hint: Your school is on the traditional territory of one or more First Nations.

  5. Question 5

    How have many First Peoples passed down history, knowledge and laws?

    🗣️
    • By mailing letters
    • Through television
    • Only through textbooks
    • Through oral history, shared by Elders and Knowledge Keepers
    Show answer

    Through oral history, shared by Elders and Knowledge Keepers

    Hint: Oral history means knowledge shared by speaking, from one generation to the next.

  6. Question 6

    The names Canada, Ottawa and Saskatchewan all come from…

    🗺️
    • Indigenous languages
    • the names of English kings
    • gold miners' nicknames
    • French words for rivers
    Show answer

    Indigenous languages

    Hint: Canada comes from kanata, a word for village. Saskatchewan comes from a Cree name for a fast-flowing river.

More Grade 4