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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

   • A city with its own government
   • Land with water on three sides
   • A tall mountain
   • Land with water on every side
7. 5.

   Bo reads that Greece had many city-states. What is a city-state?

   • An island with no people
   • A country with one ruler
   • A city that governs itself and its land
   • A street in a city
8. 6.

   Why was farmland limited in Greece, Esme asks?

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

   Which crops grew well in Greece, Jun asks?

   • Corn and potatoes
   • Cocoa and coffee
   • Olives and grapes
   • Rice and tea
10. 8.

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

    • Mountains made travel easy
    • There were no coasts
    • The sea was smaller than the mountains, so it did not matter
    • Ships could reach places mountains cut off
11. 9.

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

    • One king ruled the Greeks
    • The olive trees
    • Mountains and seas split up the land
    • Most Greeks lived on Crete
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
    • Disagree: it had many city-states
    • Agree: Greece has one government ruling the whole land