Social Studies Grade 6 Mid-Year Benchmark Study Guide - Powered By OnCourse Systems For Education

SOCIAL STUDIES BENCHMARK STUDY GUIDE

NAME: ________________ DATE: ______________

Who was the iceman and why did scientists want to study him?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

2. What did scientists learn about the iceman?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

3. What was the “Stone Age”?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

4. What were the important events of each period in the Stone Age.?

OLD STONE AGE_________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________MIDDLE

MIDDLE STONE AGE______________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

NEW STONE AGE ________________________________

4b. How did the Old Stone Age differ from the new Stone Age?

5. What made civilization develop in theFertile Crescent?

6. The wordMesopotamiacomes from two Greek words that mean?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

7. What were the two major empires in Mesopotamia?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

8. What were their similarities and their differences?

9. What is Hammurabi’s Code?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

10. Why is Hammurabi’s Code significant?

11. Discuss the first system of writing that was developed.

12. Describe how and why cities grew in early civilizations?

13. Why was theNileRiver important to the everyday life of the Egyptian people?

14. What were some reasons why religion was important to the ancient Egyptians?

15. List and describe the social classes inEgypt.

16. What were some of the major contributions in the areas of science, astronomy, and medicine developed by the Egyptians?

17. How was Judaism different from other ancient religions?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

18. Who were the Phoenicians and what important contributions did they make to civilization?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

19. Where wasPhoenicialocated?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

20. What effect didPhoenicia’s location have on its growth as a major civilization?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

21. How was life in the large cities of early civilizations different from life in the early farming villages?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________

22. Describe the geography of theNileRiverand the lands that surround it.

23. Describe the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms in ancient Egypt.

OLD KINGDOM: _________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

MIDDLEKINGDOM: ______________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

NEW KINGDOM: _________________________________

24. Discuss the history of writing from the Sumerians to the Phoenicians to the Egyptians.

25. What was the Rosetta Stone and why was it important?

26. Between which two rivers wasMesopotamialocated?

____________________________________________________________________________________________

27. Why did ancient Egyptian astronomers study the stars?

____________________________________________________________________________________________

28. Describe the rise of social classes in the ancient world.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

29. In what ways did ideas spread in the ancient world?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

30. Describe the ancient Egyptians’ belief in the afterlife.

31. Why did the Nubians develop trade routes over land?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

32. What was the geography ofSumerlike? How did this affect the way their system of government developed?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

33. What is prehistory?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

34. How did the Egyptian pharaohs govern their empire?

______________________________________________

35. Once early humans began to farm, how did their lives change?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

36. What important event occurred in 612 B.C.?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

37. Trace Israelite history from Abraham through Moses to 587 B.C. whenBabylondestroyedJerusalem.

38. What did Herodotus mean when he wrote, “Egyptis the gift of theNile.”?

39. Who was Menes? What was his most notable accomplishment?

40.Babylonwas called a “crossroads of trade.” Why?

41. In what ways did the inundation of theNile River affect the lives of the ordinary Egyptian?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

42. Describe the Kerma kingdom of Nubia.

43. How did the pattern of settlement differ between the communities of the Fertile Crescent and those of Nubia and Egypt?

44. What valuable metal is found in the rocky desert east of Meroe? In what ways did the people of Meroeuse this metal?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

45. In what ways did Sumerian cities act as states?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

46. How did Phoenicia's location near the Mediterranean Sea affect its development? ______________________________________________

47. Explain the differences between the Old Stone Age and the New Stone Age. ____________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

48. Describe the New Kingdom of Egypt. _____________________________________________________________________________________

DATES TO REMEMBER:

6000 B.C.: The first HUNTING and FISHING villages appeared in Nubia.

5000 B.C.: The first FARMING settlements appeared in Egypt.

612 B.C.: The Medes and Chaldeans destroyed the Assyrian Empire