Greece: mountains, seas and city-states; Athens and Sparta

Grade 6 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Greece's land and sea

   Feature	What it is	What it meant for people
   Mountains	?	farmland was limited, but there was enough fertile soil and winter rain to farm
   Seas	the Aegean Sea to the east and the Ionian Sea to the west, both part of the Mediterranean	ships could carry people and goods between coasts and islands
   Islands	thousands of islands; the largest is Crete	many Greek communities lay close to the sea
   City-states	each polis was a city and its land, with its own government	Greece was divided into many separate states
   Farming	olive trees, grapevines, orchards, herbs and vegetables	olive oil and grapes were important foods

   The cell marked ? is blank.

2. 1.

   Pia's chart has a blank: how much of Greece is mountainous?

   • About 80%
   • About 20%
   • The whole country
   • About 8%
3. 2.

   Ren's chart has a blank: what did the seas mean for people?

   • Greece was divided into states
   • Farmland was limited
   • Ships carried people and goods
   • No one used boats
4. 3.

   Tala's chart has a blank: what is a polis?

   • A kind of olive tree
   • The largest Greek island
   • A city and its land, with its own government
   • One government for the whole of Greece

5. Greece's land and sea

   Feature	What it is	What it meant for people
   Mountains	about 80% of Greece is mountainous, with small rivers	farmland was limited, but there was enough fertile soil and winter rain to farm
   Seas	the Aegean Sea to the east and the Ionian Sea to the west, both part of the Mediterranean	ships could carry people and goods between coasts and islands
   Islands	thousands of islands; the largest is Crete	many Greek communities lay close to the sea
   City-states	each polis was a city and its land, with its own government	Greece was divided into many separate states
   Farming	olive trees, grapevines, orchards, herbs and vegetables	olive oil and grapes were important foods

6. 4.

   Greece's mainland is a peninsula. What is a peninsula, Zee asks?

   • A chain of mountains
   • Land with water around it, like an island
   • Land with water on three sides
   • A deep valley
7. 5.

   Crete is Greece's largest island. What is an island, Ari asks?

   • Land with water on three sides
   • A city with its own government
   • A tall mountain
   • Land with water on every side
8. 6.

   Why was farmland limited in Greece, Esme asks?

   • The rivers were huge
   • Islands covered the fields
   • Rain did not fall there in the winter months
   • Most of the land is mountains
9. 7.

   With mountains between communities, why would the sea matter so much, Kira asks?

   • There were no coasts
   • Ships could reach places mountains cut off
   • Mountains made travel easy
   • The sea was smaller than the mountains, so it did not matter
10. 8.

    Greece had many separate city-states, not one country. Which feature in the chart helps explain that, Luz asks?

    • The olive trees
    • Mountains and seas split up the land
    • One king ruled the Greeks
    • Most Greeks lived on Crete
11. 9.

    Why might each polis have its own government, Milo asks?

    • Each was a separate city with its own land
    • They had no people
    • They had one shared ruler
    • The sea ruled them
12. 10.

    Noah's friend says ancient Greece was one country with one government. What is the best reply?

    • Disagree: it had no government
    • Agree: Crete ruled it
    • Agree: Greece has one government ruling the whole land
    • Disagree: it had many city-states