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Free 5th grade social studies worksheets with answers

Written by Dr. Evan J. Hasson, DC — a dad of three who built this curriculum for his own children.

50 questions with the answers, free to print and free to photocopy for your own students. Communities, maps and geography, civics, economics and history, drawn from every topic in the grade.

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History & Social Studies — Grade 5

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  1. 1. What is an amendment to the Constitution?
    1. A. A speech given by the President
    2. B. A court case about a crime
    3. C. A change or addition to it ← Answer
    4. D. A law made by a single city
  2. 2. What are the three branches of the US government?
    1. A. Federal, state, local and county
    2. B. Army, navy, marines and the coast guard
    3. C. Legislative, executive and judicial ← Answer
    4. D. Senate, House and the British Parliament
  3. 3. What is barter?
    1. A. Paying a tax to the king of England
    2. B. Trading goods directly without money ← Answer
    3. C. Printing paper money in a colony
    4. D. Saving coins in a bank for later use
  4. 4. What do lines of latitude measure?
    1. A. How far east or west
    2. B. How far north or south ← Answer
    3. C. How high the land is
    4. D. How hot a place is
  5. 5. In which country is the Eiffel Tower?
    1. A. France ← Answer
    2. B. Italy
    3. C. Spain
    4. D. Germany
  6. 6. What was the Columbian Exchange?
    1. A. A single market in Spain where sailors swapped gold for silver coins
    2. B. The movement of plants, animals, people and diseases across the Atlantic after 1492 ← Answer
    3. C. A trade deal signed between Spain and Portugal to split up all of Asia's spice markets
    4. D. A sea race between explorers to see who could reach China first from Europe
  7. 7. How many colonies did England have along the Atlantic coast of North America?
    1. A. 50
    2. B. 12
    3. C. 10
    4. D. 13 ← Answer
  8. 8. In what year did Christopher Columbus first reach the Americas?
    1. A. 1453
    2. B. 1497
    3. C. 1492 ← Answer
    4. D. 1519
  9. 9. What did Patriots want?
    1. A. To move the whole colony across the ocean to England
    2. B. To give the colonies back to France and Spain
    3. C. To stay loyal to the British king forever
    4. D. Independence from Great Britain ← Answer
  10. 10. What name is given to the first ten amendments?
    1. A. The Mayflower Compact
    2. B. The Declaration of Independence
    3. C. The Articles of Confederation
    4. D. The Bill of Rights ← Answer
  11. 11. In what year was the Constitution signed?
    1. A. 1776
    2. B. 1787 ← Answer
    3. C. 1783
    4. D. 1791
  12. 12. What is money?
    1. A. A paper that lists the laws of a colony
    2. B. Something people agree to accept in trade ← Answer
    3. C. Any shiny object that is found on the ground
    4. D. A tool used only by farmers to plant seeds
  13. 13. What do lines of longitude measure?
    1. A. How far east or west ← Answer
    2. B. How far north or south
    3. C. How deep the ocean is
    4. D. How high the land is
  14. 14. The Great Wall stretches across the north of which country?
    1. A. Japan
    2. B. South Korea
    3. C. India
    4. D. China ← Answer
  15. 15. The Columbian Exchange is named after which explorer?
    1. A. Jacques Cartier, who sailed for France
    2. B. Leif Erikson, the Norse explorer
    3. C. Christopher Columbus ← Answer
    4. D. John Cabot, who sailed for England
  16. 16. What were the three colonial regions?
    1. A. Coastal, Mountain and Desert
    2. B. Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf
    3. C. Northern, Western, Eastern and Central
    4. D. New England, Middle and Southern ← Answer
  17. 17. Which country paid for Columbus's first voyage across the Atlantic?
    1. A. England
    2. B. Portugal
    3. C. Spain ← Answer
    4. D. France
  18. 18. What did Loyalists want?
    1. A. To end all trade and contact with other colonies
    2. B. To stay part of Great Britain ← Answer
    3. C. To join France and fight against the British king
    4. D. To break away and form a brand-new country
  19. 19. In what year were the first ten amendments ratified?
    1. A. 1776
    2. B. 1920
    3. C. 1865
    4. D. 1791 ← Answer
  20. 20. What is the Preamble?
    1. A. The opening sentence that explains the goals ← Answer
    2. B. A list of the ten rights added later on
    3. C. A letter the king wrote to the colonies
    4. D. The last page, where all of the signers wrote
  21. 21. What is the national currency of the United States today?
    1. A. The pound
    2. B. The dollar ← Answer
    3. C. The euro
    4. D. The peso
  22. 22. What is the latitude of the equator?
    1. A. 0° ← Answer
    2. B. 90°
    3. C. 180°
    4. D. 45°
  23. 23. In which country would you visit the Taj Mahal?
    1. A. China
    2. B. India ← Answer
    3. C. Turkey
    4. D. Egypt
  24. 24. In what year did the Columbian Exchange begin?
    1. A. 1607
    2. B. 1776
    3. C. 1300
    4. D. 1492 ← Answer
  25. 25. Which region had rocky soil and long, cold winters?
    1. A. The Middle colonies
    2. B. New England ← Answer
    3. C. The Southern colonies
    4. D. None of the regions
  26. 26. What is an explorer?
    1. A. A person who builds wooden ships in a harbor town
    2. B. A person who rules over a colony far away from home
    3. C. A person who travels to unknown places to learn about them ← Answer
    4. D. A person who buys and sells spices at a busy market
  27. 27. In what year was the Declaration of Independence approved?
    1. A. 1776 ← Answer
    2. B. 1492
    3. C. 1763
    4. D. 1783
  28. 28. Who is known as the main writer of the Bill of Rights?
    1. A. George Washington
    2. B. James Madison ← Answer
    3. C. Benjamin Franklin
    4. D. Abraham Lincoln
  29. 29. What are the first three words of the Preamble?
    1. A. Long live the
    2. B. We the People ← Answer
    3. C. When in the
    4. D. Four score and
  30. 30. What does exchange mean?
    1. A. Throwing away old things
    2. B. Keeping everything you own forever
    3. C. Making something by hand
    4. D. Giving one thing to get another ← Answer
  31. 31. Which line is at 0° longitude?
    1. A. Prime meridian ← Answer
    2. B. Arctic Circle
    3. C. Tropic of Cancer
    4. D. Equator
  32. 32. The Great Pyramids of Giza are found in which country?
    1. A. Egypt ← Answer
    2. B. Greece
    3. C. Peru
    4. D. Mexico
  33. 33. Where did the potato first grow before 1492?
    1. A. In Ireland and other parts of Europe
    2. B. In China and other parts of Asia
    3. C. In Egypt and other parts of Africa
    4. D. In the Americas ← Answer
  34. 34. Which region was called the breadbasket colonies?
    1. A. New England
    2. B. Western
    3. C. Middle ← Answer
    4. D. Southern
  35. 35. In history, what does the word cause mean?
    1. A. The place where an event happened
    2. B. What happens as a result
    3. C. Why something happens ← Answer
    4. D. The person who led an event
  36. 36. What is a perspective?
    1. A. A law passed by the British Parliament
    2. B. A soldier who fights for the king's army
    3. C. A tax paid on paper and stamps
    4. D. The way a person sees an event ← Answer
  37. 37. How many amendments does the Constitution have today?
    1. A. 10
    2. B. 27 ← Answer
    3. C. 13
    4. D. 50
  38. 38. Which branch makes the laws?
    1. A. Executive
    2. B. The army and navy
    3. C. Judicial
    4. D. Legislative ← Answer
  39. 39. What is currency?
    1. A. The crops a country grows to sell
    2. B. The type of money a country uses ← Answer
    3. C. The weather in a country over time
    4. D. The ships that carry trade goods
  40. 40. Which imaginary line circles the middle of the Earth, halfway between the poles?
    1. A. Prime meridian
    2. B. Tropic of Capricorn
    3. C. Equator ← Answer
    4. D. Arctic Circle
  41. 41. In which city is the Colosseum?
    1. A. Rome ← Answer
    2. B. Athens
    3. C. Madrid
    4. D. Paris
  42. 42. Which animal traveled from Europe to the Americas?
    1. A. The bison of the Plains
    2. B. The horse ← Answer
    3. C. The turkey
    4. D. The llama
  43. 43. Which region had a warm climate and a long growing season?
    1. A. Northern
    2. B. Middle
    3. C. Southern ← Answer
    4. D. New England
  44. 44. In history, what does the word effect mean?
    1. A. Why something happens
    2. B. The year an event began
    3. C. A tool used for sailing
    4. D. What happens as a result ← Answer
  45. 45. What is a tax?
    1. A. A gift that people give to their neighbors
    2. B. Money people must pay to a government ← Answer
    3. C. A letter written to a friend far away
    4. D. A meeting where colonists choose leaders
  46. 46. What does the word ratify mean?
    1. A. To throw something away
    2. B. To officially approve ← Answer
    3. C. To argue about an idea
    4. D. To write a first draft
  47. 47. Which branch carries out the laws?
    1. A. Executive ← Answer
    2. B. Judicial
    3. C. State courts
    4. D. Legislative
  48. 48. How many cents are in one dollar?
    1. A. 10
    2. B. 100 ← Answer
    3. C. 50
    4. D. 1,000
  49. 49. What is the latitude of the North Pole?
    1. A. 180°N
    2. B. 90°N ← Answer
    3. C. 0°
    4. D. 45°N
  50. 50. Mount Fuji is the tallest mountain in which country?
    1. A. South Korea
    2. B. Japan ← Answer
    3. C. Nepal
    4. D. China
UpOnly Learning · uponlylearning.com · free to print and photocopy for your own studentsHistory & Social Studies — Grade 5
UpOnly Learning · uponlylearning.com · History & Social Studies Grade 5

What 5th grade social studies covers

5th grade social studies at UpOnly Learning is 9 topics, taught in this order: causes and effects of European exploration, the Columbian Exchange, the thirteen colonies and their regions, latitude and longitude, world countries and landmarks, barter, money and colonial trade, patriots, Loyalists and the American Revolution, the Constitution: a plan for government, and the Bill of Rights and amendments. The 50 questions above are drawn from those topics, with the answer marked beside each one, so you can see what has stuck and what needs another lesson. The workbook teaches each topic with a 40-minute lesson; the free PDF sample has one full topic.

What's inside

  • Causes and effects of European exploration: Explain why European explorers sailed to the Americas and the effects of their voyages on Native peoples and Europeans
  • The Columbian Exchange: Describe how plants, animals, people, ideas and diseases moved between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres after 1492
  • The thirteen colonies and their regions: Compare the New England, Middle and Southern colonies and connect where people settled to land, climate and natural resources
  • Latitude and longitude: Use lines of latitude and longitude, the equator, prime meridian and hemispheres to find and describe places on maps and globes
  • World countries and landmarks: Locate major countries on each continent and connect famous natural and human-made landmarks to where they are
  • Barter, money and colonial trade: Explain how money makes exchange easier than barter, using examples from trade in colonial times
  • Patriots, Loyalists and the American Revolution: Explain why people living at the same time had different perspectives about independence from Great Britain
  • The Constitution: a plan for government: Examine why the Constitution was written, what the Preamble says, and how it divides power among three branches
  • The Bill of Rights and amendments: Explain how people change the Constitution through amendments and what key freedoms the Bill of Rights protects

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History & Social Studies · Grade 5

$19.99. One-time purchase, no subscription.

252 pages · 1,080 questions with answers · 9 topics

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From the workbook

A real page of History & Social Studies · Grade 5

Changing the Rules: The Bill of Rights and Amendments

The student will explain how people change the Constitution through amendments and describe key freedoms protected by the Bill of Rights. · 40 min

Warm-up — say this

“The Constitution can be changed too, but it takes a lot of agreement. Let's find out how.”

Worked example

Why was the Bill of Rights added to the Constitution?

Answer: Many people worried the new national government might take away individual freedoms, so they wanted a written list of rights the government must protect. The first ten amendments were ratified in 1791.

A mistake students make

Freedom of speech means you can say anything anywhere with no consequences at all.

How the book fixes it

Explain that the First Amendment stops the government from punishing most speech, but there are limits, such as making real threats or lying in ways that harm others, and families, schools and businesses can still have their own rules about behavior.

Note to the parent

Keep discussions about rights focused on what the amendments say and how they work, not on current political debates.

That is one topic of many. The free questions above check a skill; this is the part that teaches it.

Practice checks. Our history and social studies workbooks teach.

These questions check a skill. The workbook teaches it.

  • TeachesA 40-minute lesson per topic that tells you what to say.
  • ExplainsWorked examples and the common mistakes, with fixes.
  • ReviewsAnswers with short explanations, and fresh questions.
  • PlansEvery topic in teaching order, matched to the standards.
$19.99 each Buy a history and social studies teaching workbook Free sample More free resources

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Yes. Print and photocopy them for the students you teach. The only thing we ask is that you do not republish them as your own or sell them.

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Marked beside each question on this page, so it prints as its own answer key. For a clean copy, click Hide answers before you print; click Show answers again to print your answer key.

What grade are these for?

Grade 5. Every other grade from kindergarten to grade 8 has its own page, linked at the foot of this one. If your student finds these hard, try the grade below — that is normal and it is not a problem.

What do the paid workbooks add?

These questions check a skill. The workbook teaches it: a forty-minute lesson that tells you what to say, two or three worked examples, the mistakes students actually make on that skill and how to correct each one, and an explanation beside every answer rather than a bare key.