Exam Skills: The 16-Mark 'Explain Two of the Following' Importance Question - Worksheets, Questions and Revision

15 original exam-style questions - 5 pages of questions with a full mark scheme - free printable PDF.

Download PDF Jump to mark scheme (page 6)Exam Skills: The 16-Mark 'Explain Two of the Following' Importance Question revision guide

This topic is chapter 9 of GCSE History: The American West, c1835-c1895 Practice Book.

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6.9 Exam Skills: The 16-Mark 'Explain Two of the Following' Importance Question

EDEXCEL 1HI0 · about 60 minutes

Total Marks

Name: _______________________________ Date: ____ / ____ / ______

Answer ALL questions. Write in full sentences for Questions 13, 14 and 15. You are advised to spend about 65 minutes on this pack. This booklet practices Paper 2 period-study command words: short recall items followed by three extended questions in the Paper 2 format (an 8-mark explain-two-consequences, an 8-mark narrative account, and a 16-mark explain-two-of-the-following importance question). There are no sources, no interpretations and no SPaG marks in this booklet.

Give the name of the animal that was central to the Plains Indians' economy and daily life before large-scale white settlement.

(Total for Question 1 is 1 mark)

Name the portable dwelling used by many Plains Indian bands, made from hide stretched over poles.

(Total for Question 2 is 1 mark)

Give the name of one Plains Indian nation often described as part of the Sioux grouping.

(Total for Question 3 is 1 mark)

Give the century in which horses became widespread across the Great Plains and transformed Plains Indian mobility.

(Total for Question 4 is 1 mark)

State two ways in which the arrival of the horse changed Plains Indian life.

(Total for Question 5 is 2 marks)

Name the method settlers and hunters used in the late 19th century that led to the rapid decline of buffalo herds.

(Total for Question 6 is 1 mark)

State one reason why the tipi suited a nomadic lifestyle.

(Total for Question 7 is 2 marks)

State two ways in which increased trade with white trappers and traders affected Plains Indian societies before 1835.

(Total for Question 8 is 2 marks)

Name the common term for the instrument and method Plains Indians used to hunt buffalo on horseback, combining skilled riding and close-range shooting or spear use.

(Total for Question 9 is 1 mark)

State two roles typically carried out by women in Plains Indian bands.

(Total for Question 10 is 2 marks)

Give the name of a sacred area to the Lakota that later became a focus of conflict after gold was discovered.

(Total for Question 11 is 1 mark)

Give two reasons why the loss of the buffalo herds had serious consequences for Plains Indian societies.

(Total for Question 12 is 4 marks)

Explain two consequences of the Plains Indians' dependence on the buffalo herds.

(Total for Question 13 is 8 marks)

Write a narrative account analysing how the horse transformed Plains Indian hunting and warfare between 1700 and the 1830s.

You may use the following information in your answer:
- the spread of horses northward across the Plains through trade and raiding
- the way mounted hunters were able to chase and kill buffalo more effectively

You should also use information of your own.

(Total for Question 14 is 8 marks)

Explain two of the following:
(a) the importance of the horse for Plains Indian mobility and economy
(b) the importance of trading contact with fur trappers and traders for changes in Plains Indian material culture
(c) the importance of warfare and raiding for a Plains Indian band's access to resources

You must answer on TWO parts.

(Total for Question 15 is 16 marks)

Mark scheme · 6.9 Exam Skills: The 16-Mark 'Explain Two of the Following' Importance Question

Question 1

B1 the buffalo (bison)
Answer: The buffalo, also called the American bison.

Question 2

B1 the tipi
Answer: The tipi

Question 3

B1 Lakota (Sioux)
Answer: The Lakota (part of the Sioux grouping).

Question 4

B1 the eighteenth century
Answer: The eighteenth century

Question 5

B1 made hunting buffalo more efficient by allowing mounted chase
B1 increased mobility and enabled wider raiding and trade
Answer: It made buffalo hunting on horseback much more efficient, and it increased mobility, enabling longer-range raiding and trade.

Question 6

B1 commercial hunting for hides and meat / mass buffalo hunting
Answer: Commercial mass hunting for hides and meat.

Question 7

B1 identifies feature, e.g. easily dismantled and transported
B1 supporting detail, e.g. could be carried on a travois when a band moved camp to follow buffalo
Answer: It could be quickly dismantled and carried, for example on a travois, allowing bands to move camp often to follow the herds.

Question 8

B1 introduction of horses and metal goods changed material culture and warfare
B1 dependence on trade goods altered local economies and created new rivalries
Answer: It brought horses and metal goods that changed tools, hunting and warfare, and it created dependence on trade items which could increase rivalry and change local economies.

Question 9

B1 mounted hunting (hunt on horseback)
Answer: Mounted hunting, hunting on horseback.

Question 10

B1 processing buffalo hides into clothing and tipi coverings
B1 building and maintaining the tipi and preparing food
Answer: Processing buffalo hides into clothing and tipi covers, and building or maintaining the tipi and preparing food.

Question 11

B1 the Black Hills
Answer: The Black Hills

Question 12

B1 loss of primary food source, leading to starvation and food insecurity
B1 loss of raw materials such as hide, affecting shelter and clothing
B1 collapse of the buffalo-based economy, undermining social structures and status systems
B1 increased dependency on government rations and relocation to reservations
Answer: It removed the primary food source causing hunger, it removed hides and materials for shelter and clothing, it wrecked the buffalo-based economy and social order, and it pushed many bands into dependence on rations and reservations.

Question 13

Level 1 (1-2): Identifies one or two basic consequences of dependence on the buffalo with little or no supporting detail.
Level 2 (3-4): Identifies and begins to explain one consequence with some supporting detail.
Level 3 (5-6): Explains two consequences with accurate relevant detail, showing why they followed from dependence on the buffalo.
Level 4 (7-8): Explains two consequences in a well-developed way, linking cause and effect clearly and supporting points with precise, accurate detail.
Indicative content:
- Dependence on the buffalo shaped seasonal movement and camp organisation, because bands needed to follow migrating herds. This led to a nomadic pattern of life rather than permanent settlement, affecting family structure and resource allocation.
- Because so much of material culture came from the buffalo, loss of herds meant immediate shortages of shelter and clothing. For example, tipis and garments made from hide could not be replaced easily, forcing bands to adapt or accept help.
- A reliance on a single resource made Plains societies vulnerable to any disruption of that resource, so commercial overhunting and the arrival of railways created rapid social and economic collapse, increasing conflict over shrinking supplies.
- The cultural importance of the buffalo meant that its loss also had spiritual and social consequences, undermining ceremonies and social roles connected to hunting skill and communal provision, and contributing to the breakdown of traditional authority structures.

Question 14

Level 1 (1-2): Produces simple, generalised statements about change with little organisation or linking of events.
Level 2 (3-4): Presents some accurate knowledge and shows limited sequencing, but the response may be more a list than a developed narrative.
Level 3 (5-6): Provides a coherent account with analysis of change, sequencing events and explaining connections with accurate detail.
Level 4 (7-8): Gives a clear, well-organised narrative that analyses how developments connected over time, with precise supporting detail and explanation of consequences.
Indicative content:
- From the 1700s horses spread north across the Plains through trade, raiding and escape from Spanish colonies, reaching many nations by the early 18th century and becoming central to life.
- The horse allowed hunters to chase buffalo across open plains and to use new techniques such as driving herds and coordinated mounted hunting parties, greatly increasing meat yields and making hunting faster and more efficient.
- Mounted warfare developed as riders could travel further, strike quickly and retreat, changing the scale and frequency of raids and inter-tribal conflict, and increasing the importance of horsemanship and mounted tactics to status and power.
- These changes combined to alter social organisation, as wealth in horses reshaped status and created new incentives for raiding and competition over grazing land, so by the 1830s a horse-based, mobile culture was well established across much of the Plains.

Question 15

Level 1 (1-4): For each part answered: identifies a general point about importance with little or no supporting detail or explanation.
Level 2 (5-8): For each part answered: begins to explain importance, with some accurate supporting detail and limited analysis of consequences.
Level 3 (9-12): For each part answered: explains importance clearly, supported by accurate and relevant detail, linking the factor to significant consequences.
Level 4 (13-16): For each part answered: gives a well-developed, analytical explanation of importance, fully supported by precise detail, showing clearly how the factor made a difference to the outcome named.
Indicative content:
- (a) The horse increased mobility, enabling bands to travel further to exploit seasonal resources and trade routes, and it boosted the efficiency of buffalo hunting, which in turn increased food supplies and allowed bands to support larger populations. The horse also became a form of wealth, changing economic relations and creating markets in horses and horse-related goods.
- (b) Trading contact introduced metal goods, firearms and other items that changed everyday life, for example replacing stone tools with metal ones and introducing new weaponry. Traders also brought horses northward and created economic dependencies on trade items, so material culture shifted quickly and social relations adapted to the availability of new goods.
- (c) Warfare and raiding were important because they were a primary means to gain horses, guns and captured goods that a band needed to survive and prosper. Successful raiding could alter the balance of power between neighbouring bands, secure access to richer hunting grounds, and increase a band's resources and status, while persistent conflict could reduce access to resources and force relocation.

Exam Skills: The 16-Mark 'Explain Two of the Following' Importance Question - Worksheets, Questions and Revision

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